


It Went To Voicemail

by Shaladaze



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Identity Reveal, Light Angst, Mentions of Other Miraculous Holders, Missing Persons, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Voice Mail Fic, mentions of depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2020-01-25 19:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 27,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18581080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaladaze/pseuds/Shaladaze
Summary: A series of voice messages left behind on Chat Noirs phone by Ladybug herself! Too bad he can’t hear them.





	1. 1 New Message

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually going to be a bunch of short chapters that I post when I wish I could call someone. There is a plot, I promise.

“Hey, Chat! Where are you?!”

The sound of crashing can be heard.

“I could really use your help right about now! GAH!”

A loud slam followed by erratic panting, “Come on Kitty! Please pick up!”

More panting and the whoosh of something whizzing by, “Oh, I hope you get here soon.”

The line goes dead.

1 New Message Saved 11:30 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I make a mistake.


	2. 2 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These will get longer over time.

“Hey! Where are you? You totally missed out on that last fight!” There’s a huff filled with anger as the feminine voice pauses.

A heavy sigh, “I know you won’t answer. Sorry, I lost my temper a little there. People could have gotten hurt during that last attack and it’s been awhile since I’ve had to fight without you.”

A longer pause, “I hope you’re alright. Call me when you can, I’ll try to be out later tonight.”

A click, signaling the end of the call.

2 New Voice Messages Saved 12:00 PM


	3. 3 New Messages

“Hey, Chat. It’s me again. But you know that already…” a heavy sigh.

“Ok, look. I know you weren’t around yesterday or night but I’m kinda worried about you not responding to me. It’s… not normal.”

A long pause.

“My Kwami said I was overreacting but… I don’t know it just doesn’t feel the same. As much as I want to be right I also really don’t want to be.”

The wind blows past the mic, creating a staticy sound, it dies down shortly after.

“I should, probably hang up now. People might see me and try to flag me down for an interview.”

Another pause, “Please be ok.”

3 New Voice Messages 7:46 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I made a mistake.


	4. 4 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, rapid fire posting. So sue me. I have ideas.

“I know I’ve called you before now but- WA! There’s another Akuma! Incase you didn’t see it on the news!”

There’s a low rumble followed by an evil cackle, “I’m not sure what her deal is yet but I could always use your help!”

The line goes silent for a minute before the voice from before speaks in a whisper, “Oh, it must be in that mirror. Ok, I’m going to try something wish me luck.”

Once more the line is silent before shouts are heard.

“Give me your miraculous!”

“Never! You’ll have to pull a hood over my eyes first!”

Whooshing of wind and the sounds of glass breaking.

“Hold still you pest!”

The whooshing goes quiet suddenly, “Why would I do that?”

Something shatters in the background and the female's voice speaks loud, “Lucky Charm!” A soft thump, “What? A plastic mirror? But she already has one?”

A moment’s of silence pass before a shrill voice rings out, “FOUND YOU!”

The smirk is audible in the voice from before, “Yes you did! Say CHEESE!”

A shout of surprise is heard before a loud crunching noise.

“There! No more evil doing for you little akuma.” A series of swishes are heard before a soft voice speaks, “Bye, bye little butterfly.”

A moment passes before there’s a gasp, “Oh no! I totally left the call on!”

4 New Voice Messages 3:12 PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there’s a mistake.


	5. 5 New Messages

Quiet overtakes the speaker, soft breathing can be heard signaling that there was someone there but they weren’t speaking, “I tried not to call today but… obviously I couldn’t make it.” The slight laughter in the voice is sad.

“I don’t know if you know this or not from my last messages but I’ve had to fight two akuma in the past 3 days without you.”

“...here’s hoping there’s not another one tonight.” The humor is missing from the joke.

“Ugh! I sound so depressed! You’re probably fine! And when you hear all these messages you’ll just make fun of me like, ‘Oh hey purrincess I heard you were worried about me! That’s so sweet of you!’ Or something cheesy like that…” silence once more.

“Yeah, you’re probably fine.”

5 New Voice Messages 11:57 PM


	6. 6 New Messages

“Ok. I know it’s like super early in the morning but I’m worried! I’ll admit it! I know no one else is really worried but for now no one is talking about how you have gone missing and I don’t want to bring it up to someone and have them asking questions…”

A crinkling of paper is heard, “I should be asleep. I’ll… I’ll call back later.”

6 New Voice Messages 4:02 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably make this known but... it’s been... a long time since I’ve seen Miraculous Ladybug so the chances of me making a mistake on something are higher for this fic than most of the others. Sorry ahead of time!


	7. 7 New Messages

“There’s another akuma! I don’t really have time to leave a message so I’ll keep it short. I’m getting Rena Rouge to help me with this one. If you show up great!”

7 New Voice Messages 12:45 PM


	8. 8 New Messages

The girl on the other end sounds exhausted, “That last akuma sucked. Everyone started to ask me questions about you once it was over and I just ran away instead. It doesn’t help that Rena cornered me to interrogate me either.”

“I’m tired. Staying up late was a bad idea. On top of that, Hawk Moth has been more active recently… hmm I wonder why…”

A sharp gasp, “He doesn’t have you does he?! No! No.” A deep breath, “I would know if Hawk Moth caught you. You’re safe. He is just taking advantage of the opportunity! Yeah!”

A long silence, “I hope he doesn’t have you…”

The next words are a whisper, “Please, stay safe Chat.”

8 New Voice Messages 1:21 PM


	9. 9 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have a ton of these already written.

“UGH! They don’t know anything! You didn’t abandon me!” The shouting on the device is cracky, like it can’t handle the volume.

“YOU WOULD NEVER ABANDON ME! THEY’RE JUST RUNNING YOUR NAME THROUGH THE MUD LIKE USED CAT LITTER! BECAUSE THEY’RE A BUNCH OF-”

A huffing silence followed, the anger slightly dissipated after the outburst.

“The only one that isn’t joining in on the slander is the Lady Blog. Alya keeps discrediting other sources and shutting down haters and I can’t thank her enough.”

“Don’t worry, when you get back, we’ll fix this. They will leave you alone once we talk about it.”

9 New Voice Messages 2:45 PM


	10. 10 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I made a mistake.

“I decided I’m going to uh…” the Voice is uncertain, “Mention how long you’ve been gone in the messages… it’s been…” There’s a pause, they must be thinking about it, “5 days? Since you went missing?” It’s said like a question.

“Anyway, uh. I can’t really go back and hear the messages I left but… I know you can.”

“People are saying you’re playing a joke. Or even that you abandoned me. One person came up with this crazy theory that you teleported to the future!” Nervous laughter fills the empty space left by her words.

“I… I’ll look for you tonight. You can’t just be gone without a trace.”

There’s a moment of silence, as if the person is debating on saying more. They don’t.

10 New Voice Messages 6:00 PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I just want to post them all at once but that would kill the mood right?


	11. 11 New Messages

“Day 6, Ugh that sounds weird. Anyway, I didn’t see you last night. Obviously… I’ve started carrying the phone around with me all the time instead of keeping it in a safe place. I know that’s super irresponsible but… I can’t miss it if you call me back.”

There’s distant laughter of children somewhere near by, “I… had a thought… and I really don’t want to think about it but if I don’t get it off my chest I might lose my mind but… what if…”

The soft voice goes quiet again, the background noise seeming to still as she speaks once more, “What if you’re dead?”

A long silence passes, the laughter resuming but the voice does not. Maybe their lost in their thoughts.

“Hmm, if I keep this up I’ll be akumatized for sure. Then where will we be?” The girl is still quiet, any joy her sentence should have is non existent.

“Bye.”

11 New Voice Messages Saved 8:42 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I made a mistake!


	12. 12 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if I need to change the tags for next chapter!

“I think I might have found out who you are under the mask and honestly I’m kind of mad about it.”

The girl on the other end sounds exasperated, “I won’t say anything, over the phone or in person but now that I know… I’m even more worried. No one has heard from you in a week. Oh, and it’s been 7 days Kitty.”

A sigh, “I had this feeling that I might be fighting someone today, and that would really suck considering it’s a Saturday but you can’t win them all can you?” The teasing returns, if muted.

“Hmm, yeah that sounds like a good idea. I’ll say what day it is and how long you’ve been gone. Why didn’t I think of that before?” There’s a shifting noise, possibly moving their head, “Doesn’t matter. I’m going to patrol. Flag me down if you see me.”

12 New Voice Messages 11:51 AM


	13. 13 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter, it’s not graphic but it’s implied.

Soft hiccups are heard, almost inaudible, “I… Chat I can’t… someone almost died. The akuma, they never made a sound. It just-hic happened.”

The voice sounds wet, like a frog had crawled into the back of their throat, “I got hurt trying to save them and I don’t know how I’m going to hide this.”

A sob escapes, louder than the soft hitches in their voice, “It hurts. My miraculous didn’t fix it, not that I’m surprised. Hic- Chat I won't even be mad, please come back.”

The crying continues for a moment, sometimes muffled with the occasional sob, but it stays silent, like their afraid of being found.

“I never could do this without you. I’ve always thought about how hard it would be to do all of this alone and I was right.”

A soft whoosh is heard followed by a louder gasping noise.

A high pitched voice starts speaking frantically, “Mar- You’re still on the phone? Ladybug! I’m so sorry, I just don’t have the energy to keep up the transformation anymore!”

The girl is panting in pain now, “It’s fine Tikki. I have food in my bag. You should eat.”

“But-“

“I’m fine. Eat.”

Silence follows but its short lived as another gasp filled with pain cuts through it. A pitiful whine is followed.

“I’m so sorry.” The higher pitched voice sounds closer to the phone now.

“Hic- I told you it’s fine.” A sharp inhale, “I just didn’t expect it to hurt so much”

“The miraculous can only dull the pain so much, and while you will heal faster than most normal humans, it will still hurt more out of the costume.”

The panting is heavy, filled with exhaustion and pain.

“We’ll find him. I promise.”

The two fall into quiet, though the panting can still be heard. They don’t make noise for a few moments before the high pitched voice speaks softly.

“Ladybug, you should hang up the phone.”

There’s a hum of confusion though not much else.

“The phone. You are still on a call for Chat Noir.”

Another hum, though this one is fainter.

“Ladybug?”

…

“LADYBUG! WAKE UP! DON’T FALL ASLEEP! WITH THAT INJURY-!”

There’s a grogginess to the voice, “Wha? Sorry, Tikki. I’m just so tired.”

“Ladybug, sit up! I ate the cookie! Please transform! We have to get you to the master! He can help you! Please sit up!”

“I’m awake, I’m up. Calm down, Tikki.”

There’s a shifting noise followed by a loud clatter.

“Oops.”

“Please transform, the adrenalin should be enough to get you to the masters safely!”

“Ok, ok. Miraculous Ladybug.”

There’s a moment of silence, “Um… your transformation is ‘Tikki, spots on.’ And please hang up the phone.”

“Oh, right. Tikki, spots on.”

There’s a whooshing noise, the device must have been left on the ground.

“Wow. Ok, that doesn’t feel good. Where is that stu-their it is.”

13 New Voice Messages 4:32 PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m stress writing. Finals suck. I should be studying.


	14. 14 New Messages

“Day 8.” There’s a loud groan from the voice.

“Ugh. I feel sick. Just wanted to let you know I’m alive but it’s not fun.”

The higher pitched voice from the last message speaks, “You should be resting. That phone is supposed to be for emergencies.”

A shifting noise, “Yeah, I know. But with the last one I left I have to do something”

A heavy sigh, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Silence passes for a moment.

“I’m still not sure how I’m going to hide this injury but master Fu helped a lot. He suggested bedrest and since today is Sunday I might do just that.”

“I believe you should rest too! Maybe you can tell your parents you’re sick?”

There’s a soft hum of thought, “It would work since I really do feel sick. Hopefully I get better by tomorrow. Can’t miss school.”

Another moment of silence, “Thanks Tikki.”

“Anytime Ladybug.”

Confusion laced the girl, “Why did you call me Ladybug?”

“B-because you’re still on the phone?” The concern is thick in the high pitched voice.

“Oh. Right.”

14 New Voice Messages 8:09 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My new plan was to post at the exact time I put for the fics but I was not awake at 8 AM.


	15. 15 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t post this one on time either. Oof.

“I’m convinced I’m cursed and Hawkmoth knows it.”

The girl grunts loudly with a hiss closely followed, “Hawkmoth is attacking again and I just can’t keep up with this injury.”

There’s a thud, “I’m trying to find Rena Ruge and Carapace, possibly even Queen Bee because I’m not going to be able to do much like this.”

“Please Chat. If you see me, civilian or hero costume. Please tell me.”

15 New Voice Messages 1:20 PM


	16. 16 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I MISSED POSTING THIS ON TIME TOO!

“I…” the sudden shout is unexpected and cut off just as quickly as it had started.

A deep exhale can be heard, this time they sound calmer, “Master Fu had your miraculous…”

Quiet echoes loudly over the device, “He didn’t tell me the first time I was there but he’s had it for a while… it’s still Sunday by the way.”

A higher voice speaks softly, “He had his reasons for not telling you…”

This seems to make the girl snap, “HE SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME AS SOON AS HE COULD!”

The loud silence returns, “What’s worse is Plagg can’t come out and talk to us…”

“Kwami can’t be out for very long if our miraculous isn’t being worn. The amount of energy it would have taken to bring it back to the master safely means he needs to rest.”

The girl growles, “I know that! I’m not mad at Plagg! He didn’t do anything wrong! I’m mad at master Fu for hiding this from me!”

“I know you’re upset but please… Ladybug, I need you to stay as positive as possible.” The higher voice sounds cautious.

“I know. I know. Miraculous holders aren’t immune to being akumatized either.” A weary sigh passes over the mic.

A calm quiet settles over the pair on the other side of the phone. It lasts for quite some time before the call ends.

16 New Voice Messages 3:00 PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I make a mistake!


	17. 17 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You’re all going to hate me. I posted my chapters out of order.

“Monday, day 9. I think there’s a pattern to when Hawkmoth is attacking. Last week there were attacks on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. If this repeats this week I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it.”

There’s a hiss on the other end, “Ugh. Just fought another akuma. It wasn’t too hard today but it would have been easier if I wasn’t still in pain.”

There’s a moment of silence.

“My Kwami is asleep in my bag. Honestly she deserves it with how much she has been working.”

…

“She told me she doesn’t think this is healthy. Leaving messages on your phone all the time…”

“Master Fu told me I should choose another person to temporarily replace you… because it would be suspicious if you just disappeared.”

The girl sounds resigned, “I won’t be able to work with anyone else though… on top of that, I can’t just replace you…”

Silence passes again.

“I-I might not have a choice in my next fight though and… I hope you won’t hate me for it…”

“I-... I won’t stop looking for you. No matter what.”

17 New Voice Messages 2:49 PM


	18. 18 New Messages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re all going to hate me. I skipped a chapter by accident. Please go read 17 again then this one will make more sense.

“Wednesday, day 11” the girl on the other end is whispering softly.

“I… I didn’t call yesterday because I got super busy with school and then there was one this morning… Sadly, I think I’m right and Hawkmoth is attacking in a pattern. His akuma are getting weaker though so I think the strain of using his miraculous is finally getting to him.”

There’s a shuffle noise but it stays quiet, “It’s getting to me too. Luckily I have had the other three to loosen the strain and…”

A sigh, “I had to pick someone to be Chat for a little while. Plagg wasn’t happy but I had no choice. If this keeps going I’m going to pass out in class.”

She’s quiet for a moment, “Tikki is talking to master Fu and Plagg right now, so I’m at school alone.”

Hesitance can be heard in her next words, “I-i almost told Rena who I was. I feel really bad but I-... I didn’t do it though. I figured the only one allowed to know was you.”

“If I’m right, I’ll be able to rest tomorrow and the day after.”

A distant voice is yelling hardly heard over the speaker, it sounds like a name.

“I’ll call later.”

18 New Voice Messages 11:39 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY!


	19. 19 New Messages

“Day 12, Thursday. This is starting to feel more like a battle report or something.” The small laugh that follows is hollow.

“I’m so tired today. Between looking for you and fighting Hawkmoth I feel like I’m being run into the ground.”

Another voice can be heard now, though it sounds distant, “Ladybug! Can we get a few words for the people of Paris about why Chat Noir was missing for a week?! Did he leave you alone on purpose or-“

The words are cut off as a whizzing sound is heard, small grunts of effort accompanying the sound. Soon a soft thud and the slight breeze past the mic.

“Oh yeah, and the news reporters. I need to stop getting so close to the ground. These people are relentless.”

“Anyway, I should… probably go. Bye Chat.”

19 New Voice Messages 10:42 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I make a mistake! Sorry about last chapter!


	20. 20 New Messages

“Day 13, it’s a Friday. So far everything’s checking out. No attacks.” There’s a shuffling noise in the background.

“A lot of schools added a required class to all their schedules.” More shuffling, “Ok, it’s not really a class. You don’t get a grade or anything but it’s required now because the mayor said so. It's kind of like a therapy class, you go and learn how to control anger and stuff like that.”

A small thud is heard followed by a grunt, “Ugh, anyway, I know it’s been helping a lot of students since the stress is so high. It also helps those who can’t pay for separate therapy or make it to an appointment. It’s actually a really good idea and I’m surprised it took this long for the idea to be suggested.”

The voice moves away from the speaker, “Tikki will you hand me that? Thanks.”

“I just wanted to keep you updated, you know? In case you haven’t seen anything.”

A loud shout followed by some choice words in French can be heard just before a loud thud.

The rest is abruptly cut off.

20 New Voice Messages 4:07 PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I make a discord? For this story I have tumblr but I’m not sure if that’s the same thing since it’s more a general account.
> 
> Anyway, let me know if there’s a mistake.


	21. 21 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do this to cope.

“Day 14, Saturday. Faught an angry cat Akuma? I’m not sure what that was about but it sucked. I’m feeling better now, my injury is mostly gone and I don’t think it’ll scar so no evidence!” She goes quiet for a moment.

“I’ve taken to mostly being on rooftops or higher, being closer to the ground is dangerous. Too many people asking questions.”

She takes a deep breath, as if preparing for the rest, “I am having a really hard time working with this… temporary Chat Noir and the rest of them too. I just can’t work with them like I work with you. We get into arguments in the middle of fights, they don't listen to me when I have a plan, they do their own thing without asking me first. I can’t. I won’t. I-“

Her frustration dies as she takes another calming breath, “I think I’ll just work alone for a while. If things get desperate then I’ll ask for help but if I think I can do it alone then I will.”

“I’m sorry I keep calling you, I just… don’t have anyone else to talk to.”

“I’ll call you again later.”

21 New Voice Messages 11:47 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not go back and read a chapter after I’ve written it unless I have to so please let me know if I make a mistake! If you want to help in other ways let me know through my tumblr question-the-daze.


	22. 22 New Messages

“Sorry, it’s late. Same day as the last call…”

There’s a long pause, “Have…”

She sniffs a sudden choked noise in her voice, “Have you ever wondered if falling from the top of the Eiffel Tower would actually hurt us? Or if it felt anything like flying?”

There’s a sort of distance to her voice, not saying that it was far from the speaker but as if she wasn’t all there, “I’ve… thought about it. But then I remember you, and I can’t. Won’t.”

“I honestly have been a little surprised I haven’t seen an Akuma come for me since all of this started. I’ve been feeling pretty down lately but… I don’t know. I won’t read into it and just count myself lucky.”

She goes silent, a slight breeze can be heard in the background.

“I might have found a clue as to where you are. And I REALLY hope I’m wrong. I just. I can’t imagine- not after…”

She hisses our her next breath, “I’m going to investigate tomorrow. You might not get a call from me for a while. I would go now but… I need to sleep. I’m so tired.”

“Good night Chat.”

1 New Voice Message 12:06 PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I made a mistake!


	23. 23 New Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dudes, it’s way too late for this.

“D-Day 15-“ the sound is cut off by a short but soft cry, “M-Monday.”

“Chat. I’m so-so sorry! If I had known! Guh! Why didn’t I trust my instincts? I knew and then I didn’t but he was- this whole time!”

Her cries are muffled, as if her hand went to cover her own mouth, “How could you ever forgive me? I let this happen.”

Her cries gets softer once again before a loud gasp is torn from her, “NO! I will not let this happen right now! Leave me alone!”

A zipping sound is heard followed by loud whooshing, a thud is heard before her voice says loudly, “You caught me at the wrong time!”

A few moments pass in silence before she’s sobbing loudly into the device once more, “I can’t get a break can I? What should I do?”

She sniffs, “I have to tell someone but who? I can’t tell Lu-Chat, I can’t tell Rena, I can’t tell Cara, I’m definitely not telling Bee. I… I have to have SOMEONE I can tell…”

A long moment of silence passes before a soft whimper echos over the speaker, “I… I don’t have anyone I can tell… no one to trust… not with something like this.”

“I will get you back.” Her voice sounds determined, is shaky, “I won’t let this keep going.”

Suddenly her tone is dark, “No matter what the cost.”

2 New Voice Messages 2:14 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I made a mistake!


	24. Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Style change!

Ladybug looks down at the ring in her hand. It’s black metal shines in the dim lighting of the moon, bringing memories of her partner to the front of her mind. How could she had been so stupid as to think that Hawkmoth wouldn’t akumatize himself to get them off his back she didn’t know but now wasn’t the time.

She was doing this mission alone. She couldn’t ask any of her friends to help her with this, especially after the last two weeks. She puts the ring in a safe spot before swinging closer to her destination. The Agreste mansion.

She lands softly, not wanting anyone to notice her, mentally going over her plan once more. It was not going to be an easy job. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to hurt anyone.

Peaking over the edge of the roof, she scans at the dark windows of the large home for movement. She only knew of 4 people who lived in this place but she was only after one of them.

Once she is satisfied that no one is around, she swings down to the windows that span a whole room. If she remembers correctly, and she does, this is Adrien's room. She walks the edge of the windows, pushing and pulling gently to see if one of them will open. To her surprise though she isn’t as surprised as she should be, one of them opens.

Looking into the room, now that the glass is out of the way, she checks once more for a figure she so desperately wants to be there. But just like the last time she had checked, it’s empty.

Exhaling a little sadly she drops down to the floor while pulling the window closed behind her. No reason to leave evidence. As she looks back and forth she can’t help but feel anxious. She was sneaking in, alone, to her arch nemesis house, to find his son. Perfect.

She moves across the room with a practiced stealth. Honestly she felt more lonely than anything. She hadn’t realized just how much she relied on Chat since they became partners. Looking at the floor she notes that the lights are off in the main hall as well.

Turning the knob slowly, she peeks out into the empty hallway, half expecting to see Hawkmoth starring her in the face. This is not the case though, since the hall is empty. A cold shiver goes down her spine, this House was giving her goosebumps with how lifeless it felt. It was more like how she thought a prison would feel than a home.

It’s definitely a prison now.

Moving into the hall she closes the door just as quietly behind her. If she remembered correctly, the study was down stairs somewhere. Walking over to the railing, she leaps over it to land in the ground floor. Trying to remember where she’s been before she moves to the door on her right since the one on her left was open, showing the dining room. This rooms door was shut but she remembered that one being the same room she had snuck into on Adrien's birthday.

She takes a deep breath, Hawkmoth could be behind that door and she wouldn’t know it until it’s too late. Steadying her mind, she lays one hand on her yo-yo and the other on the door handle. Opening it felt more nerve wracking than sneaking in and she opens tons of doors!

Peaking in she waits a few seconds before opening it more, pausing once she could see in. She repeats this process till her head sticks through the door into the empty room. Taking a few steps in she lets her guard drop.

“This is too easy.” The whisper of words is out of her mouth before she can stop them, but when nothing happens she almost wants something to happen so she won’t be so on edge anymore.

Walking the room, she tries to find any sort of switch or secret passage. So far there was nothing at the secretary desk or near the door. Looking to the painting on the wall she moves closer to it, maybe there was something behind it?

Pulling lightly at the edges she’s surprised when it swings to reveal a large shelf, holding various items.

“The book!” Leaning forward she notes that the miraculous book is one of the many things stashed away but no button.

Frowning she closes it and looks at the only thing left in the room. The podium. It stands at a higher that’s a little tall for her short stature. Standing right in front of it she runs her hands over it hoping for something to happen. A sudden lurch upward has her stumbling and gripping the pole of the stand to keep steady. The ground under her feet moving upward along with the pole.

Holding tight she lowers her sense of gravity, pulling her weapon off her hip. If this was a trap she had to be ready for it. A hole opens in the ceiling and she braces for the worst as she’s plunged into a dark room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been writing in ‘voice message’ style for so long, I kind of forgot how to write normally? This was supposed to be done 2 days ago so just pretend this isn’t late as crap.
> 
> Let me know if I made a mistake! There is a larger chance of there being one this time around.


	25. Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I can’t wait any longer to post this! I tried. I really did.

The room is pitch black. No light to guide her if she were to move. So instead she plants herself. Looking around for something to give away what’s around her. A soft shifting to her left has her spinning her yo-yo to protects her incase it’s an attack. It sends bright flashing red lights around the room causing a figure to cast dark shadows on the walls. They yelp in surprise and in a moment she is lunging at them.

They fall heavily on the floor with a thud, Ladybug keeping them firmly on the floor. They groan loudly from where they had landed.

“Ugh.”

Jumping back and off of them she whisper shouts, “Chat?!”

Their breath catches, “Ladybug?”

She lunges forward again, this time to hug the figure she can’t see, “Oh my gosh, Chat! I’m so sorry I thought you were Hawkmoth!”

He shushes her, his hand fumbling for her face to cover her mouth, “Shhh!”

She sits back trying to force her eyes to learn how to see in the dark, it doesn’t work. She waits quietly as he stays silent.

With a sigh of relief, “I don’t know how you got in here but if he finds out, we’re both in trouble.”

His voice is quiet, almost inaudible, the fear lacing it is unmistakable, “Chat, what is going on?”

She can feel him shift slightly so he’s sitting next to her, “It’s… a long story. For later, we don’t have time for that. How did you get in? My-Hawkmoth has the best security for this room, I haven’t found a way out.”

She notices his slip, but she keeps that tucked away, “I have a plan for that. We have to get out of here.”

She pulls his ring from where she had stashed it and makes a grab for his hand, it takes a few tries but she finally finds his shoulder and finds it from there. She places the ring in his palm, “Here, you’ll need this.”

The surprise in his voice hurts her heart, “You brought this with you?”

She nods her head only to remember they can’t see, “Yes.”

He pauses for a moment before, “That means you know-“

She covers his mouth quickly, luckily not missing but from the grunt she must have hit him pretty hard, “Shhh. Later. For now put that on. We need to leave.”

She stands, trying to remember where the middle of the room was from where she had jumped to but stops when a hand lands on her thigh.

“I-... I can’t.”

She looks back in his direction with shock, “What do you meant you can’t?”

He pulls her down to his level again, finding her hand and giving the ring back, “I can’t Bugaboo.”

A deep sadness sets in, she thought he would want to be saved why wouldn’t he… “Did he threaten you or something? Come on, you know we can take him. Please we have to-“

Her plees are cut off, “We can’t. I can’t. I won’t. Just… leave without me. I’m sure you can defeat him without my help. You just need to give someone else the ring.”

“Chat?”

She cringes at how small her voice sounds, she has no idea how he reacts but it takes him longer to reply.

“Please. Just leave while you still can.”

Something inside her breaks. She had felt so lost without him by her side and now that she has a chance to get him back, he’s turning her away.

She tries to keep the tears at bay, “I… I can’t do this without you. There isn’t another Chat, there can’t be.”

He rests a hand on hers, “You haven’t tried-“

“I have!” Her words cut her deep but she keeps going, “I was forced to pick another Chat during one of the akuma attacks. People were trapped and none of us had a power to save them. I had to give someone else the ring and I hated it. I hated them. I didn’t want them to be Chat, I made sure they knew it was only temporary and I knew that but even after it was over I hated having to give the ring to someone else. There is no one else.”

The silence that stretches on after that has her saying the words she kept locked away these past two weeks, “I won’t be Ladybug if you’re not Chat Noir. I don’t mean it as a threat, but a promise. I can’t save Paris without you.”

A moment passes before he’s gripping her hand hard, a small choked noise leaving him, “Bugaboo-“ he sniffs hard, “I… you don’t understand. This is all my fault.”

Confusion sweeps over her, “What do you mean?”

He shifts a little, his other hand grabbing onto her shoulder, “Hawkmoth… he’s… everything he’s ever done, it’s-it’s my fault. I should have known but I didn’t, I just ran away and left him all alone I-“

She cuts him off, “Chat what are you talking about? How could this be your fault?”

His head makes contact with her shoulder, she notices he’s crying when the tears soak her suit, “Hawkmoth is my father Bugaboo.”

This isn’t new knowledge to her, her hands wrap around the crying boy in a hug, her next words are quiet, “...I know Adrien…”

He lets out a sob, his body shaking and she can’t help but reevaluate her plan. She had thought he would jump at the chance to stop Hawkmoth even if he knew it was his father but she was wrong.

“I left him alone. To go play hero while he was suffering. Everything he’s ever done has been my fault. He’s like this because of me.”

Something in his words makes a few alarm bells go off in her head, “It’s not your fault. You didn’t try to hurt him.”

“But I did!” His shout startles her, he’s never yelled at her like that before, “It’s my fault! Can’t you see?!”

She isn’t lost on the irony. He’s pulled away from her and if they weren’t touching knees she wouldn’t know he was there. A sudden noise that isn’t them startles her. Looking around frantically she sees a hole opening in the floor.

Adrien panics, he grabs her arm and pushes her into a corner where she sees a bed sitting. He pushes her down behind it and hurriedly sitting on top of the bed in a fetal position. She stays where he had shoved her, quiet as she waits.

The room lights up suddenly and it has her blinking her eyes hard.

“Adrien? Why are you yelling?”

Her skin bristles at his voice, she’s never liked Mr. Agrest much but now it was just pure hatred.

Adrien moves on the bed, she can’t see anything from where she is hidden.

“I-I had a nightmare. I’m sorry I woke you.”

The man sighs heavily, silence is loud, but the clicking of shoes makes it louder, “I apologize. I didn’t realize you still had them and that was an awful oversight on my part.”

The bed shifts and she assumes he’s sitting on the bed.

“What was the nightmare about?”

Adrien is silent for a moment before speaking, “It doesn’t matter, I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

More alarm bells go off in her head but she doesn’t move.

“Adrien, you know you can talk to me.”

A bother moment passes in silence.

“Is it because of the room?”

She’s frustrated that she can’t see what’s happening as their quiet once more. It wasn’t normal for Adrien to be so quiet, especially now that she knows he’s Chat.

“You know I only keep you here to keep you safe.”

More silence passes before the man speaks again.

“I’ll get you a nightlight, it will help. I know your used to having a large window in your room so it should have the same effect.”

Adrien makes a small agreeing noise and the bed shifts once more.

“I’ll bring it in tomorrow. For now rest.”

The room goes silent once more as the man disappears from the room. Ladybug doesn’t move until Adrien is helping her up from the floor. This time the lights are on and she gets a full view of what he looks like. The bags under his eyes and the very obvious tears hurt her heart.

“I’m sorry.”

She reals back at his words, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

His face turns guilty and it makes him look older than he actually is, “Look I-“

She holds up a hand, silencing him. She couldn’t take another apology from him, “Don’t.”

The sadness that makes his shoulders sag makes her want to cry, “Chat.”

At the name he looks back up at her, surprised.

“Do you want the ring back or not.”

His head starts to shake and she speaks again, “Do. You. Want. It. Back.”

He pauses, looking away before nodding his head.

She nods her own head, “Thank you.”

The surprise on his face confuses her but she speaks anyway, “For being honest.”

Understanding replaces the confusion and she keeps talking now that she knows he is listening.

“Chat Noir. I will keep the ring of destruction protected for you as long as it’s not in your hands. I, Ladybug, promise that nothing bad will happen to Plagg as long as I’m around to say something about it. I trust you to contact me if you are ready to receive it once more.”

He stands straight, the serious look on his face reminding her that this was indeed still her kitty, “Thank you.”

She nods her head to him, a momentary sadness takes over her and she can’t help herself as she lunges forward and hugs him, “I won’t leave you here for long Kitty.”

He hugs her back just as tight. They stand there for a moment before they both pull away reluctantly.

“You should go.”

She nods at his words, moving silently back to the entrance. It takes her a moment but she figures out how to get it to lower. Sneaking out is as easy as following her path in, but it hurts her more than entering did.

She doesn’t get much sleep for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there’s a mistake! If you have any questions please ask them! If they won’t be answered in the story then I will give you an answer but if they will be then I will warn you about it first!


	26. Threats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight depression warning for this chapter. Please, if it triggers you. Ask for help! It’s not major but there are hints of it and I kind of forgot to put it in the tags. ITS THERE NOT THOUGH.

Marinette sits at her desk, not even bothering to pretend to pay attention. Honestly, the whole class is in a similar state of depression and while normally she would do her best to cheer everyone up, she just wasn’t feeling it.

She looks at where her extra phone she kept with her was sewn into her bag, she knew she was being careless with keeping it on her all the time but she didn’t have the heart to let it go.

Tikki’s words from a few days ago float to the surface again, “Marinette, you know that phone is strictly for you and Chat Noir to be able to call each other in an emergency. Master Fu would be upset if you lost it because you weren’t taking care of it.”

She shakes her head, she knows perfectly well what it’s for but ever since Chat had gone missing she hasn't left it at home even once. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Alya slide something over to her. Glancing at it, she checks to make sure the teacher hadn’t seen before taking it and opening it.

‘You good?’

She mentally rolls her options around in her head as she reaches for her pencil. She feels her hand tap it and moves her hand to grab it only for the thing to clatter on the floor. A few people glance at her but they immediately go back to what they were doing. Rolling her eyes at the stupid object she leans over to pick it up. Looking back at the page, pencil in hand she writes ‘as much as I can be’ before sliding it back. It wasn’t a lie, she wasn’t great but she wasn’t awful like she was yesterday.

Alya leaves her alone for the rest of class.

Lunch comes and Marinette makes a break for the bathroom. She has done this everyday since Chat disappeared. She finds an empty stall and walks in, reaching into her purse she digs around to find the hidden pocket. Tikki floats next to her, her concern clear on her face but she doesn’t say anything. Finally finding it she slips out the phone and checks it. Nothing.

Sighing heavily she tucks it back into her bag and waits for Tikki to hide back inside before walking out. She splashed water on her face before grabbing a towel.

She ignores the door opening and pulls out her concealer, the bags under her eyes were aggressive and it almost felt like nothing worked anymore.

“You look like a mess as usual.”

The dark haired girl cringes at the voice, because she just can’t get a break can she, “Hello, Lila.”

Said girl hasn’t been nearly as let down as everyone else has been. It’s probably her hate for Ladybug that’s been putting her in a good mood, since the hero has been so upset.

“You know trying to hide your pimples should be done at home right?”

She rolls her eyes and continues what she was doing. It was the same with all their interactions. With Adrien not here to occupy her attention Lila had pointed all her focus on making Marinette's life miserable, it was only sort of working.

“No one cares what you look like since their top visit worrying about my sweet Adrien. So why bother covering it up if no one will give you the light of day?” The girl is closer now.

Finishing with her task, she puts away her concealer. Checking one last time that she looks at least semi-presentable before trying to walk past the brown haired student. Emphasis on try.

As she moves to walk past her the girl side steps directly into her path. Effectively bringing them face to face, “Ugh, you look even worse up close. Why not just wipe it away so at least it doesn’t look like your trying so hard.”

Effectively done with her, Marinette takes a single step back and stares her down with her eyes, she was done, “Lila.”

The girl seems surprised but doesn’t move.

“If you don’t move out of my way I will report you for verbal abuse and blackmail. To the police, not the principal. I will get a restraining order on you, and I will not hesitate to claim that you have cornered me in the bathroom on multiple occasions and harassed me.” She stands tall, unwavering at her statement. She meant every single word.

Lila looks almost appalled at the idea, like Marinette had personally offended her, “And why would you do something like that to the nicest person in the school? I’m loved by everyone here. Who would possibly believe you?”

Shrugging a shoulder, she steps around the girl, “It doesn’t matter if they believe me. The police will launch a full investigation on you. That will include your home life, social media, and your school attendance. Which if you don’t remember is almost non-existent. I might be late most of the time to my classes, but at least I’m consistent.”

She walks out without looking back, at this point, she just didn’t care about Lila. People were constantly trying to say things about her and the people around her to manipulate them. Whether it be Chloe, Lila, the mayor, even Hawkmoth tries to manipulate them. It makes it no different from politics.

Walking down to the lunch room, she quickly gets her food and finds a place to sit in the back. She knew that what she had just done would come back to bite her in the form of her friends making her eat alone, she was used to it. Because Lila didn’t hide her fake sorrow about Adrien missing like she did.

Just as she suspected the girl came flying in with tears in her eyes and a tale about how Marinette had cornered her in the bathroom. Expertly ignoring the rest, as well as the stares she could feel in her back, she pulls out her homework for that night and starts it. It’s not like she’ll be doing anything else.

After a while Nathan joins her at the table, it had become a sort of routine between them. He never believed Lila because she was always bad mouthing his crush, and while Marinette knew he only sat next to her because of it she was grateful anyway.

He stays silent, pulling out his own project to work on and doing both like she did. They would talk occasionally to ask each other questions but with her mood always so down he took the hint and kept their interactions soft.

By the time lunch was over, the rest of the class effectively hated her again and her homework was finished. She figured, with how patterns go, she would be ignoring any and all looks while trying to pretend to pay attention to the teachers.

Finally, finally, classes are over and she makes a B-line for home. She doesn’t bother stopping to wait for her friends or trying to stay after for any reason. All that matters is that she come up with a plan to somehow convince Adrien to leave his father. Or maybe just on how to take Hawkmoth down without her partner. Or maybe she should give her miraculous to someone else, give them all the information they would need and send them to take down Hawkmoth.

She shakes her head as she crosses the street, that was a bad plan. Bad Marinette. Take down Hawkmoth. That’s the goal. Nothing else.

She enters through the back door of the shop and sneaks upstairs without greeting her parents, with how she looked she was bound to distract them from work and she just didn’t feel like talking to them.

Once she makes it to her room, she finally notices her phone ringing. Hope shooting through her bones she dives into her bag, making Tikki fly out in a panic, till she finds the device that’s ringing. Her mood drops again when she sees it’s just her normal phone. Alta’s smiling face taunting her.

Dropping the device on her desk, she ignores it in favor of finding the emergency phone. She knew he wouldn’t answer but…

She taps his name and waits for he ringing to stop, “Hello, Bugaboo! Sorry, I missed ya! Please leave a lovely message for me to listen to later as I would love to hear your voice at any time of day.”

It beeps and she takes a deep breath, “It’s Tuesday. Day 16. I mostly called because I miss hearing your voice. I know it hasn’t been that long but…”

She pauses as she tries to think of what to say. It was getting harder and harder to find words as her own silence rang over the speaker of the phone in her hands.

“I miss you. I will find a way to help you. Even if I have to do it alone.”

With no other ideas she hangs up and immediately calls again. It rings and she waits for the last beep, then she puts it on speaker.

“Hello, Bugaboo! Sorry, I missed ya! Please leave a lovely message for me to listen to later as I would love to hear your voice at any time of day.”

She hangs up before the last beep and repeats the process. This was what Tikki kept telling her was unhealthy. It wasn’t just the fact she kept leaving messages, it was what she did after the messages.

By the time she stops, tears are running down her face in thick streams. She stays quiet though, she had learned to cry quietly after coming home one too many times with an injury and a close call with her parents.

Rubbing her face she sets the device down on its charger before pulling out a pen and paper to start writing out her plan. Just before she could write anything though, the trap door swings open with a slam. Nerves on high alert, she grabs the phone off of her desk and puts it in her back pocket before getting into a ready stance.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng! You have the nerve to ignore all of my phone calls and messages when I know for a fact your home?!” Alya’s eyes scan the room, a quiet anger burning in her eyes.

Marinette forces her body out of a fighting stance and waits till her friends eyes finally find her, the anger dies only slightly.

“You! Have no right! To go taking your frustration out on other people! I know you’re upset about Adrien, but to attack Lila without any reason whatsoever is uncalled for!”

The dark haired girl just watches as her friend freaks out, it was new, to be yelled at like this. Sure, she’s been yelled at by others for much the same thing, but to get such a strong response from her own best friends. The tears from earlier are dry, and she can’t find anymore to give.

She lets her shoulders slump, they were hardly friends anymore, “So you’re just going to assume that Lila was right?”

The other girl puts a hand on her waist and points a finger at her, Marinette interrupts her.

“You didn’t even ask my side of the story.”

The anger doubles in her friends stance.

“What kind of reporter only gets one side of the story?”

The jab is clear as her friend reals back, “That was uncalled for!”

Marinette continues, “Oh wait. Most reporters only get one side of the story.” She can see how upset her friend is, if she keeps this up she would effectively lose a friend, “They only get the side of the story that’s interesting.”

Her friend looks effectively taken aback, a hand over her chest, “How could you?! You know your just proving Lila right? You did attack her didn’t you!”

That last part wasn’t a question. No longer able to look at her friend, she sits down in her chair, “You still don’t know my side of the story.”

She hears a loud huff, the next words adding fuel to the fire, “I don’t need to. You’ve just proven Lila right.”

She hears the other stomping down the stairs only to pause, “I can’t believe this is the type of person you really are.”

Marinette waits till her steps fade, the front door slamming shut to signal her exit out of the house. She sits there, waiting for tears to come, by nothing happens. She then glances around her room to see if maybe a butterfly had come in, but still nothing. Since it was Tuesday, maybe she wouldn’t have to fight her friend again.

Tikki floats into her vision, her face unreadable, “Marinette?”

Said girl sighs, she hand nothing to say. That was bad. On a normal day, that would have created an Akuma right in her room, or even before that. Another one would have been her fault.

“Marinette.”

She looks back up at the small Kwami.

“Would you like to go out?”

Surprised, she gives her Kwami a hopeful look, “Would that really be ok?”

Tikki nods and Marinette gives her a small smile before holding out a hand, “Do you think we should visit master Fu?”

The Kwami shakes her head, “Nope. Just you and the miraculous. If Hawkmoth has the same attack pattern as he’s had these past two weeks, you should have a free day!”

Smiling wider at her small companion she nods her head, “I had the same thought. Ok, if you’re absolutely sure.”

Tikki nods and Marinette stands up, kicking the trap door closed before shouting, “TIKKI, SPOTS ON!”

The adrenaline that rushes through her makes her sadness seem secondary. She leaps out of her trap door and lunges out over the city. Swinging with no real destination in mind, she ignores all the shouts that reach her since none of them are asking for help.

After awhile she does an extravagant flip onto the Arc de Triomphe. Landing with a grace she hasn’t felt in a while. She looks around at her surroundings, trying to figure out if she wants to stop here or keep going. The view from up here was so nice, she felt just a little bit more relaxed than before.

Walking to the edge she’s about to jump off when a particularly excited shout catches her attention. Normally, she wouldn’t be able to hear anyone from up here but a single glance down tells her exactly why she could hear it.

A small speck of yellow is moving around, she thinks they might be waving their hands but she can’t tell. Taking a moment she debates the pros and cons of talking to Chloe right now. One one hand, it would bring a ton of attention to her, on the other, Chloe was the only one she wasn’t currently having issues with.

Decision made, she drops down to the ground next to the girl with a smile she doesn’t feel, “What’s up?”

Instead of saying anything, she simply hands her a piece of paper, and walks away.

Confused, she looks down at it. Her name is scrawled across with beautiful calligraphy, a small Ladybug is glittering ink sitting just next to it. Looking closer she notices it’s a letter not a paper, though it’s kind of the same thing.

Shrugging she swings off from the crowd that had started to gather and finds somewhere quiet to read it. Opening it she finds the inside written in gold.

‘To whom it may concern,  
Meet me at my secret hideout. We need to talk.”  
-Bee’

She smiles a little at the bumble bee that’s drawn next to the extravagant signature. Really, all of this just to talk to her.

Swinging out once more, a destination in mind, she tries to think about what she would want to talk about. It could be anything from an autograph to begging her for the miraculous but she couldn’t put a pin in any of them. With Chloe it could really be anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I made a mistake!


	27. Yellow like Daffodils

Landing on the roof of Chloe’s home, Ladybug walks down the short staircase to see no one there yet. She wasn’t really surprised, with her superpowers and all.

She walks over to the chairs tucked away in the corner and sits down in one. Looking out over the city, calm despite her inner turmoil. She just had to clear her head before thinking about her life outside the mask.

She has no idea how long she sits there before the rooftop door opens, revealing the yellow teen in all her glory. Chloe saunters over with her signature smile.

“Hey Ladybug! You came!”

Marinette smiles back and moves to stand.

Chloe waves her hand at her, “No! No. Stay seated. We did need to talk after all.”

Relaxing back into the chair she waits till the other girl is sitting before asking, “So what did you want to talk about?”

Chloe’s face falls slightly, her smile going thin, “W-well I.” She takes a second to compose herself, “As you know, I’ve been the reason for a lot of the Akuma’s. Like, a lot of them.” She leans forward over the table to emphasis her words, “And I’ve been trying really hard to change that.”

Marinette tried to think of the last Akuma that was directly affected by Chloe and it takes her a minute to remember that the last one was about a week ago.

She continues, “But first of all. It’s really hard. Second of all, this kind of has nothing to do with what I wanted to talk to you about.” She pauses and waits for some kind of response.

Ladybug rests a hand on Chloe’s interlaced fingers, “You can ask me anything. I know you have been trying really hard recently and I’m thankful for that.”

Chloe smiles before seeming to deflate, “There’s this girl in my class. She’s being bullied by everyone because of some stupid rumors that were spread about her. I know their lies because I was there when she was cornered in the bathroom.”

Marinette tenses, Chloe was there? Where could she have been hiding? She was sure that the bathroom was empty.

“The girl stood up for herself and I was super impressed because she doesn’t really have a backbone.” She pauses here her shoulders lifting in a confidence that doesn’t reach her eyes, “But this other girl turned the situation around and no one believes the one who actually got bullied.” She turns away.

Marinette tried to calm her racing heart enough to force out, “Why are you telling me this?”

The yellow girl looks at her from the corner of her eye, “Well, you see this girl and I don’t really get along. I fought with her, a lot, and now I’m not sure how to approach her. I kinda get how she feels, one of our classmates went missing recently and aside from me,” she gestures to herself with a flourish, “She’s the only one who’s pulling her hair out because of stress now that he’s gone.”

Marinette watches Chloe with slight awe in her eyes. This girl who had been nothing but a pain in her neck since the beginning, was trying to find a way to help HER out.

Chloe seems to remember something her anger spiking momentarily, “Besides, I know what it’s like to be all alone. I know what I did to her was bad, I know I need to fix things but I don’t know how. Asking for forgiveness has never been easy for me. And it’s not like her friends were ever really her friends anyway, not with how they threw her to the curb the moment someone more interesting came along.”

The statement stings enough that the pigtailed hero physically jerks back.

Chloe snaps her head around to look at her, “Um, Ladybug?”

She schools her expression the best he can, “Sorry, I was just so surprised by what you said.”

The blonde nods her head, “Yeah, I know it’s not a nice thing to say but it’s the truth. Everyone walks all over her and I thought that all of her spats with me would have given her some sort of…” She waves her hand around in circles, “Ugh, backbone, but it didn’t. She’s only like that around me and now it’s a problem because I don’t know how to fix it. What do I do?”

Marinette tried to think past her own bias enough to respond in a way that won’t reveal who she is. On one hand, Chloe was right, she really only acted like that around her but on the other she really thought that Chloe was actually trying to figure out how to help.

“Chloe, I think if you really want to, and I mean, really, want to. You should try to talk to this girl about what’s going on. Be honest with her, but listen to what she has to say as well. The only way to truly fix things is if you’re both in the same page of the same book. Understand where she is coming from and go from there.” She smiles despite how much her next words ache, “Communication is the first step to fixing a relationship.”

Chloe nods her head, sitting quietly with her hands in her lap. She doesn’t say anything for a moment before she finally whispers, “Thank you, Ladybug.”

Marinette smiles and stands up, patting Chloe’s shoulder before turning to leave.

Chloe’s hand latches onto hers, “Wait! Do you really think it will work? Even if she hates me?”

Light blue eyes stare into darker blue, worry etched deep into one while the other was trying to hold in tears. Finally Marinette leans down and hugs Chloe, “I think if you make your best effort, then anything is worth the try.” She pulls back after Chloe hugs her, “Besides, maybe you will make a new friend.”

Smiling brightly she pulls away completely and walks to the edge of the roof, with a final wave she swings away. Back to her own home so she can think about how today had gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if I made a mistake.


	28. 28 New Messages

“Hey Kitty. It’s Friday, day 19, or I guess it’s Saturday, which makes it day 20.”

A loud yawn is heard over the speaker, “Ugh, Sorry. Can’t sleep. Might just stay up and do something productive.”

There’s a small clatter, “Sorry, I was only going to listen to the Voicemail message but it beeped when I wasn’t paying attention.”

A thud, “Oof, ok, I’m just going to hang up. Night.”

4 New Voice Messages 4:29 AM


	29. Sleepy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to stop giving away everything that bothers me about my chapters. So here you go!

Marinette walks to school with her head down. The occasional trip not stopping her short walk across the street. She passes behind Alya’s back without stopping, figuring it would be best not to see her until later. She moves mostly in a haze, not really paying attention to anything except to avoid people.

Once she finally reaches her destination she sags a little. Finally paying attention once more she looks around the library. She is only here for a few minutes till the bell rings but it’s nice not to see too many people. She sits at an empty table out of view of the door and waits.

This wasn’t how she liked to spend her mornings. She preferred to talk with her friends or even be early to class, but with the nerves from all the Akuma fights and her friends being upset with her, she didn’t want to do anything else.

Tikki peaks out from her bag, a sad look in her eyes, “Are you going to talk to your friends about what happened?”

Marinette shakes her head, “No, I’m just going to stay here until the bell rings. Maybe I can sit in the back of the class to avoid Alya.”

Tikki frowns deeply, “You can’t avoid them forever.”

“I know,” she sighs, “I just don’t want to have to deal with the angry looks right now. Everyone is convinced I’m the bad guy because of Lyla, I don’t see a reason to try and fight it when it would just prove her right.”

Tikki pokes out of her bag, “But that’s wrong Marinette! You shouldn’t be avoiding the problem, especially if it’s hurting you.”

Looking around Marinette gently pushes the kwami back into the bag, “It’s not permanent. Besides, I might have to be ready for Chloe today and I’m not sure if I can handle it right now.”

Tikki heaves a sigh much too big for her size, “Ok. But promise me you’ll try talking to them?”

The blunette lets her shoulders fall, “I… ok. I promise to try talking to them at least once today.”

The kwami smiles, “Thank you.”

The bell rings and Marinette is off like a rocket. Ignoring any and all shouts as she makes her way to the classroom. She sneaks by a few of her classmates unseen and easily slides into the empty back seats in the corner. If she made herself small maybe no one would see her. For good measure, she lays her head down on the desk and sinks low in the chair.

Familiar voices fill the room, gradually getting louder as more students enter. On second thought, maybe she should just go home. If she wasn’t here, then she wouldn’t have to worry, but then Tikki would be mad. But if she went home she could make a plan to save Chat, but she might miss something important in class. What if an akuma DOES come today? Then she wouldn’t be ready for it!

A yawn escapes her lips, she hadn’t been able to sleep. Can’t really sleep anymore. Her parents had noticed her eye bags and suggested a doctor or sleeping medicine but with her secret heroin job she had to refuse everything. If things were different she definitely would have done it.

Someone clears their throat behind her but she ignores it. People did that all the time.

When it happens again, she realizes they were probably trying to get her attention. Turning her head over slowly, she looks up and tries not to squint when bright yellow assaults her eyes.

Chloe makes a face but quickly wipes it away. She gestures to the seat next to her, “Is this spot taken?”

The words slug their way through her brain, was the seat taken? No, these desk chairs were too heavy to lift. After a moment it clicks in her head and she pays the spot, “Oh, nope. It’s unoccupied.”

The blonde sits awkwardly, glancing this way and that. Finally, her eyes settle on something or someone and she sits up straighter, suddenly looking the part of a queen. Too tired to care Marinette just turns her head to get comfortable again, maybe laying down was a bad idea since it just made her realize how tired she was.

Ever so slowly, but faster than it had last night, sleep drags her back into its embrace, keeping her company as everything else fades away.

She wakes up later to gentle shaking, she doesn’t want to get up but the touch has her snapping her head up like a box spring. Looking around wildly to see if there was an attack or something. Her eyes finally focus on their teacher, who stands next to her desk with a look of concern.

When she talks, it’s softly, “Marinette, are you alright? You’ve slept through most of my class without moving a muscle.”

She rubs her eyes fiercely, enough that she hopes it will make the blush on her face look like it’s from that rather than embarrassment. Sadly, her words are just as slow and tired as she is, “I’m sorry Miss Bustier. I was napping in the work yesterday and haven’t been home working at the bakery to swing a sleep in.”

A few heads turn to look at her, ranging in concern to just straight up confused. Chloe places a hand on her own forehead, “Do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

Marinette gives the blonde a confused look, “Yes?”

“Are you sure?”

“Not anymore.”

Their teacher places a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, “Marinette, would you like to go home?”

Said blunette shakes her head, “No. I can’t leave yet. That’s for later when I can go looking for… that… thing?” The word won’t come to mind.

Miss Bustier nods her head, “If you insist. Try to get more sleep tonight.” Then she walks back to the front of the class.

Marinette keeps her eyes open long enough to see people turn away before letting her head drop to the desk. She was thankful when it made contact with the desk.

The next time she wakes up, it’s to an alarm blaring in her ear. She jumps up, standing with her hand on her bag, nerves strung high as she looks around. Her classmates watch her in varying stages of packing their bags and it takes her a minute to understand that class was over.

Slumping heavily she takes a calming breath and tries to remember what class she had next. She thinks her next one was the akuma recovery class, that wasn’t its name but she couldn’t for the life of her remember the actual one. Luckily, she only shares that class with Max and Marc.

She walks down the stairs only to be stopped by a hand sticking a book in her face, her book to be exact.

“Um, you forgot something.” The exasperation makes her look to the blonde holding said book.

“Oh. Thanks.” She takes it wordlessly and starts walking again. 

Chloe walks next to her, “Meet me outside during lunch.”

She nods, a yawn interrupting the action and she rubs her face. A vague thought of needing to fix her concealer at lunch has her looking at her hand to see the damage. When her hand comes away clean she shrugs before entering into where she thinks her class is.

She has a hard time staying awake as the psychiatrist tries to work them through breathing exercises and helping those few who still needed help finding a good outlet. The teacher had tried to approach her about how tired she was but couldn’t get any coherent words out of her.

By the time lunch rolls around, Marinette feels like an akuma attack would be better than having to pretend to be awake. She walks to the bathroom by habit only to stop when she sees Chloe by the entrance. Distantly remembering that they had talked but not why, she walks over to her.

“‘Ey Chloe? We talked but I don’t remember.”

The blonde gives her a critical once over, for the first time in a while Sabrina isn’t with her, “You look like a mess.”

Marinette looks down at her outfit. She was still wearing her signature outfit but upon closer inspection, her jacket was inside out and she was wearing two different kinds of shoes.

“Oh, oops.” She takes off her jacket and turns it right side out and takes a second to decide what to do about her shoes before shrugging, couldn’t do anything about it here.

“That’s not what I- oh whatever. Look we need to talk but I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”

She shrugs, “Why not? You talk to me when I have the same shoe on.”

Chloe rolls her eyes before pulling out her compact, then proceeding to shove it in her face, “No, you look ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! I can barely stand to look at you!”

Marinette looks in the small mirror before taking it. Her pigtails are loose, and hanging at odd angles, pieces of blue sticking out, and a bit of fabric fluff from her project stuck in her hair, “Oh, guess I forgot about my hair this morning.” She hands the compact back before pulling a brush out of her bag. When she starts brushing her hair Chloe rips it out of her hand with a look of irritation.

“Chloe wha-?”

“You didn’t even take out your pigtails! Ugh!” She turns the blunette around and shoved her towards the locker room. Once she is sat down, Chloe begins to get to work. Taking out her hair ties and fixing her disheveled hair into something nicer.

“Utterly ridiculous.”

The brushing motions calm her, making her remember that exhaustion once more. Slowly she closes her eyes, figuring they don’t need to be open. A sharp tug makes them open again but she ignores it and the ones that follow in favor of dozing off.

Finally the motions stop, “Ugh! Ok. This is the best I can do with you nodding off like that. It’s not what you normally do but whatever.”

Standing with a wobble, Marinette takes her brush back and puts it away, “Thanks, I should go eat someone.” With that she turns and walks out of the room.

Chloe catches up to her again, “You can hardly stand up straight and you’re trying to go to the lunch room?”

Confused the blunette looks at her, “Uh, yeah?”

The blonde opens her mouth, only to snap it closed. Sighing heavily she pulls something out of her bag and holds it out to her, “Here. Eat this. It’s a high fiber energy bar, 100% natural ingredients.”

Taking it she tries to read the label, “What’s in it?”

“Peanuts, honey, oats, a little bit of wheat grain and some kind of dried berries.”

Nodding she opens the package and eats whatever it was. It was surprisingly good, “This isn’t that bad.”

“Of course it’s not! I only have the best.”

Marinette can hear people talking around them but she pays them no mind, the bar was really good and if she got to eat lunch at the same time, she might have enough energy to get through the rest of the day.

She hears Chloe talking behind her as she gets a tray of food. It looked particularly good today and she couldn’t wait to dig in. She easily finds Nathan and sits with him, eating quietly as the noise picks up in the room.

Chloe suddenly leans into her line of sight, “Do you want to talk to any of these losers Marinette?”

Confused she shakes her head, “I don’t really want to talk to anyone. Sorry.”

The blonde moves away as quickly as she came, deciding that as long as the other leaves her alone it doesn’t matter. She takes a bite of her apple and hardly flinches when something lightly hits her in the back of the head.

The room seems to freeze, senses peaked, she turns around to look behind her. What she sees has her super confused. Lyla stands in front of her class, Chloe the only thing keeping them from being right behind the blunette, shocked faces all around the make her wary.

“What?”

Alya bridges the gap between them, “Are you ok? How does your head feel? How many fingers am I holding up?”

Even more confused, Marinette leans away from the darker girl, “Um, I’m fine. I’m just eating.”

A bewildered look replaces the concerned one, “You didn’t feel anything hit you in the head?”

She shakes her head, “Not really, it was more like a light tap why?”

“A light tap?!” The shout in her face makes her flinch, “You just got hit with an elbow and it was a light tap?!”

Even more confused she touches the back of her head to check for damage, finding nothing she shrugs, “Yup. Light tap.”

She begins eating once more while the brunette makes wild gestures next to her. Thinking about it, Marinette tries to figure out if it was the miraculous or her normal clumsiness that made it so she didn’t feel the pain. Maybe she was that tired.

By the end of the day the blunette is completely ready to crash in bed at home. She didn’t want to go on patrol yet and if she could just nap for awhile instead that would be best.

Chloe thwarts her effort to make a mad dash for her house with a hand on her shoulder, “I’m walk you.”

Marinette nods her head, it was best to let Chloe do whatever she wanted. Made it easier to go home.

Their walk is short and they don’t talk, but Chloe goes as far as the bakeries back door before saying goodbye and reminding her to rest for as long as possible. When the blonde leaves, Marinette has this feeling she forgot something but shrugs it off as her head hits the couch pillows.

She won’t remember when she fell asleep on the couch later that night when all of the lights are out and the sky is dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let sleepy Mari be cannon


	30. Unhelpful assistance

“Tuesday, day 23. I’ve been fighting with Queen Bee, or I mean, I’ve been fighting the Akuma with Queen Bee, not- anyway. I don’t really trust the others right now for personal reasons but I figured we could talk about it later. Um… yeah that’s all I got. Bye.”

Marinette takes the phone from her ear and stuffs it into her purse before walking down stairs. She says goodbye to her parents before leaving for school, their busy day at the bakery having already started.

She’s only mildly surprised when she’s stopped by the blonde heroine before she even makes it past the staircase.

“Oh good. You’re actually awake and looking human. We need to talk.”

Marinette heaves a sigh, “Chloe I don’t really have time for this.”

Said teen blocks her way when she tries to sidestep, “No, I will not have a repeat of the disaster that happened on Friday. You’re coming with me and we are going to talk.”

Chloe grabs her wrist and drags her away from the school population. Once she seems to be satisfied, she lets the blunette go and turns to her sharply, “Ok, you better be listening now because this is really important!”

Marinette nods uncertainly, “I’m listening Chloe, I have been since you walked in front of me.”

The blonde tears her head and holds up a hand, her signature attitude ready for her to use, but as soon as she opens her mouth everything stops. Her hand freezes and her eyes widen, her posture going rigid before slowly falling. Her hands ball into fists at her sides, light blue eyes darting this way and that as a look of confusion passes over her face.

“I…”

Surprised and worried by the development, Marinette starts to ask her if she’s ok before being interrupted.

“I’m sorry.”

They stare at each other as Chloe seems to be thinking over what to say next, “I… haven’t been… the best… but I’m sorry.”

Before the blunette can get a word in, Chloe is darting away from her, walking as fast as her legs can carry her up the stairs and past Sabrina into the school building.

Realization dawns on Marinette as she stands there, that must have been Chloe’s attempt at taking her advice, well Ladybugs advice, but still. Kick starting her own feet she runs clumsily up the stairs, sliding past everyone in her way as she chases after the yellow figure heading towards their class.

“C-Chloe! Wait!”

Sabrina turns to look in her direction before tapping the girl next to hers shoulder. In response the girl keeps moving, not bothering to look back.

Marinette lets put a frustrated huff and keeps running. By the time she finally reaches them, the blondes already opened the door.

“Chloe, Wait!”

“What Marinette? What could be so important that you keep yelling at me?” Her hair whips behind her as her head snaps in her direction, her eyes glassy like ice.

Panic makes her stumble over her words, “I… why were you apologizing?”

Chloe’s eyes look past her and around as if avoiding answering, finally she places a hand on her hip, the other keeping the door open, “You’re really going to make me say it a second time?”

Marinette cups her hands in front of her while looking down, “N-no. Yes? I just… don’t understand?”

The blonde looks into the room before leveling her with a hard stare, “Fine. I’m sorry. I’ve been a jerk. I was rude. I've hurt you and it’s utterly ridiculous that I keep doing it when I have no good reason to be treating you that way. Happy?”

Sabrina’s mouth drops open in shock as she stares at Chloe, and Marinette can’t say that her face doesn’t match. With her words she walks into the room like the model she thinks she is, stopping at the last second to hold it open.

“Are you going to stand there and let flies into your mouth or are you going to come in?”

The two girls snap their mouths shut and walk into the room behind the blonde, quick to move out of her way when she keeps moving. Seeming to have taken a dive off the deep end, the blonde then walks confidently up where Alya usually sits and plants her butt firmly in the seat.

In the back, Alix makes some kind of remark about the end of the world when the blonde then says, “Well, are you going to sit or not?”

Sabrina is quick to move, sliding in next to Chloe. The blonde rolls her eyes and moves closer to her before looking at Marinette, “Well?”

Taking the hint, the blunette walks up the stairs and sits on her other side. It’s a little awkward since they don’t talk and Marinette can’t understand what she’s thinking until Alya walks into the room laughing at something Lyla had said. When their eyes meet it clicks in the heroines head exactly what Chloe was trying to do.

It was a power move.

And she was now stuck in the middle of it.


	31. Assert dominance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I posted this a while ago but no one saw it?

Marinette silently groans as the girls have a stare off. Of course they were doing this, what had she expected Chloe to do? The girls idea of helping was asserting her dominance over everything even if it didn’t work.

Mind working overtime to figure out a way to get out of the current situation, she doesn’t take into account that Alya would turn to her first.

“And what, exactly, are you doing in my seat?”

Words leave her in that moment. Abandoning her much like they did when Adrien was around, but for the first time in her life, it isn’t Alya who comes to her rescue.

Chloe starts examining her nails, “She’s sitting in her seat. Isn’t that obvious?”

Alya’s face twists into anger, “And what are you doing there? Last I checked, that wasn’t your seat.”

Lila places a hand on the brunettes shoulder, “It’s alright Alya. If they want to trade seats with us for a day we can sit in the front row!”

Her sickeningly sweet smile makes Marinette sick. How can someone act like nothing was wrong when they are using mental manipulation to get what they want?

Chloe turns up her nose as the girls walk past them to the front row seats. Alya’s anger settling down to a low simmer when she finally sits down.

Marinette has the passing thought that if Alya keeps being angry she might turn into an Akuma, but she tries hard to keep that thought away. Maybe, just maybe, no one will get mad enough to become akumatized today.

Nino’s furrowed brow and deep frown pop into her vision with surprising speed, “I didn’t think you would take Chloe’s side on anything. Let alone over a friend.” And just like that he’s gone.

Shame digs deep into her stomach, making her want to throw up. Was that really what they thought? That she was siding against them in some kind of war? After everything Lila did to her, all of the lies she spits out, and after all the time she has spent trying to make her friends happy?

The bell rings as her thoughts spiral down a similar path. Constant negativity making her eyes water slightly. Just as the teacher walks in, the heroine lurches from her sitting position to basically run up the stairs and to her spot at the back of the class. She knows everyone is watching, she can hear Chloe’s confused voice trying to call her back, but she’s just not in the mood for an emotional roller coaster.

Class passes in a blur, her teacher trying her best to get Marinette to participate in whatever small way she can and while the teen greatly appreciates it, she just doesn’t feel up to it.

By the time lunch has rolled around, Marinette is ready to do anything as long as it’s not deal with the reality that has become her life.

“Tikki, can I please just transform and wait for an akuma attack? With it being monday, it’s bound to happen.” Blue eyes fall to the library floor.

The small Kwami pops out of her bag with a frown, “You can’t seriously be wishing for someone to be akumatized, come on Marinette, it can’t really be all that bad here! I’m sure something good is bound to happen if you just look on the bright side!”

The teen sighs, “I’m tired of always looking on the bright side. I would like to just sit and exist without being pestered for a few minutes but with Chloe’s version of helping and Lila threatening me at every corner, how am I supposed to come up with a plan to save Adr-... uh, save the cat?”

Tikki floats to her face with a soft smile, “Marinette. I believe that you have the power and strength to get everything done that you need to. If you want to save your partner, then you will find a way to do it. Just as you have found a way to defeat every Akuma that has come your way no matter what’s happened. If you want to get your friends back from Lila, then I think you can. If you want to become friends with Chloe, you can do that too.” She nuzzles against her cheek, “If you want a break for a while, I won’t stop you, but please remember that every action has a reaction and I don’t want you to get into trouble for skipping class.”

Marinette lets her hand rest over the Kwami in their closest version of a hug, “You’re right, like always.” she lets go and holds the small Kwami in her hands, “Ok. I’ll stick around for the rest of school. After classes are over though, I kind of want to get away from everyone. Will that be ok with you?”

“As long as you keep your phone on and keep an eye on the news, I think that’s a great idea.”

“Thank you, Tikki.”

“Of course, Marinette.” She gives a deep bow before disappearing back into her bag.

Marinette faces her day with a little more hope and the smallest of smiles plastered on her face.


	32. Smooth waters

Ladybug sighs as she lands on top of the building closest to her destination. It had come to her just before classes ended, the perfect way to escape everyone while still being nearby.

Changing back, she sneaks out of her hiding spot over to the man selling tickets and smiles at him.

“Hello, um, I would like to buy a ticket for a boat ride?”

The man nods his head and fidgets behind the counter for a moment, “That will be $6.50. Ma’am, will that be all for you?”

She holds out the money, “Yes. That’s it.”

He takes it and with a flourish, presents her ticket. 

Getting a little excited, she quickly hops down the steps towards where the boats are and waits for a young woman to approach her, “And how are you this fine evening?”

She answers her honestly, “I’m hoping to do better after the ride.”

She gives Marinette a sideways glance as she stamps her ticket, before guiding her to a boat, “Ah, looking to get away for a little while?”

“Something like that.”

The young woman helps her into one of the many seats before moving to the front of the boat, “Then I guess we shouldn’t wait a moment longer.” With a mighty push, they drift away from the dock, floating lazily down the river, “Is there anything in particular the lady wishes?”

Marinette grimaces before looking around, “Is it possible to stay more in the middle? I… I don’t really want to deal with people right now.”

The young woman nods in understanding before guiding them to the middle of the river, “If you would like to talk about it, I’m all ears. Otherwise, please enjoy the ride.”

The blue haired girl nods, settling into her spot before pulling out a sketchbook, “Um, actually, if you don’t mind. Can I draw you?”

The young woman looks back at her, “Like a portrait?”

“Sort of,” She turns her book slightly, “I draw inspiration from around me to make designs and I wanted to know if it was ok to use you as a reference?”

The young woman, or now that she’s paying attention, teen, nods her head with a blush, “I mean, I don’t see why not. I probably should have dressed better if that’s the case.”

Glancing at her outfit, Marinette notices that the teen went more for a sailor vibe, white pants that went all the way up to her stomach and a crop top with blue and white stripes, “I think your outfit is fitting!”

The teen smiles, the blush still in place, “Thanks. Usually tourists like the Frenchy sailor feel and I guess this fits the bill. If I had a beret and a mustache I would probably fit the stereotype better but most don’t see girls rowing boats.”

Marinette giggles, “You know tourists. Always listening to those stereotypes.”

The girl throws a hand out, “Right?! Oh! Sorry, you wanted to draw. I’ll leave you alone now.”

Giving her a reassuring smile, she looks down to her page, “I’m happy to see someone enjoying my company for once.”

A moment of awkward silence passes before the teen is leaning down to talk a little quieter, “Hey, I know it’s not really my business but… is someone hurting you?”

Looking up, the blue haired girl takes note of the others features, she’s a little lighter than Alya, freckles dotting her face. Her hair is a nice brown-ish blonde, sunbleached she thinks, and eyes the shade of dirt, “I’m…” She heaves a sigh, “It’s not a boyfriend or family if that’s what you’re thinking.”

The girl nods, turning forward to adjust their path before turning back around, “Bullies at school then?”

Marinette nods, “Yeah.”

The teen seems to contemplate something before sitting down at the front of the boat, “My names Nicole. Short for Nicolette, what’s yours?”

“Oh! My names Marinette.” She holds out her hand.

“Nice to meet you! You know if you ever want another ride, just let me know! I can get you a ticket for free anytime.” They shake hands.

Marinette shakes her head, “I couldn’t ask you to do that, you need the money don’t you?”

Nicole waves a hand, “I was in the same situation once. I actually have this job because of it. Found it easier to deal with the world by being far away from it. Honest, just say the word and I can get you on for free.”

Marinette considers the others words and nods, “Alright, if you’re sure.”

“I’m positive!” The teen jumps back up to her spot at the front of the boat and guides them through the water.

Smiling at her kindness, the blunette turns her attention to the blank pages in her book and starts sketching to her heart's content. Thinking of casual wear, formal, hats, winter clothing, anything her mind can come up with is placed into the book. Details of what material to use, length for someone her size, children’s outfits, and accessories quick to follow.

By the time the ride is over, she’s so lost in her book it takes Nicole saying her name to get her out of her revere, “Marinette?”

Looking up, she almost throws her book into the water, but another hand grabs it before it gets too far, “Wow, there. Can’t lose all that hard work can we?”

Staring in awe she takes her book back with a grateful bow, “How did you do that?”

The teen shrugs, “You’d be surprised at how many people lose their stuff off of a boat. It’s gotten me quite a few tips for catching some poor guys glasses or a woman’s phone from the watery depths.”

“That’s so cool!” Marinette jumps out of the boat, holding her book as tightly as possible.

“Consider it fast reflexes. Anyway, I hope the rest of your day goes well and if you ever need somewhere to run, I got you covered.”

Marinette bows again, “Thank you Nicole. I really appreciate the ride.”

The teen waves her off with a fond, if not knowing smile on her face. Walking quickly, Marinette exits the dock area and surveys where she had been let off. She’s only slightly surprised when she recognizes it as the last point on the boat ride, closest to the Eiffel Tower. Where she can just make out an Akuma making their way to the top of it.

“Hmm, back to work then.” With a smile, she runs to find a hiding spot to transform.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta’s are awesome guys you have no idea!


	33. The biggest mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A HUGE thank you to my beautiful Beta readers!

Marinette breathes deeply. Today was the day she was going to finish her plan to save Adrien. Sitting down at her desk with Tikki resting on a small doll chair she had next to her computer.

Her goal was simple, yet very complex. She had to find a way to take the Miraculous from Hawkmoth and defeat him. Originally, her plan was to defeat Hawkmoth and send him to jail, but he was a gazillionaire! The chances of him actually staying in jail were low because of his status, so she would need to find some way to work around that. The only thing that made sense was taking away his Miraculous and hiding them all away.

The thought made her sad because if she went through with this, it would mean saying goodbye to Tikki forever.

Rolling her pen in her fingers, Marinette banishes the thought. They will cross that bridge when they get there. Lifting it once more she writes down everything she knows about Hawkmoth and his hideout. She maps what she can remember of the room Adrien is being kept in, what it looked like and how to get into it, etc.

Once she finishes with that, she writes down everything her team can do. Deep down she is still upset with them, but in order for them to win, they had to work together like Ladybug has no idea what’s happening in Marinette’s life. 

If she was confident enough in her own abilities, she could sneak in and steal the Miraculous without alerting Hawkmoth, but she had never seen his brooch on him. Only when he’s using it. So, their only course of action was to attack the next time an Akuma was created. Based on past experience and what she knows of her own powers, Hawkmoth would need to stay in his transformation while the Akuma was active.

Silently, she begs to the miraculous that the next Akuma won’t attack anyone specifically and just be a town destroyer, as bad as that is. Those were harder to fight because they had to protect everything instead of a single person, but if this plan worked it wouldn’t matter.

“Marinette?”

Swiveling in her chair, said teen glances at her covered trap door, hoping her mom didn’t try to open it, “Yeah?”

“Just checking up on you dear! Do you need anything while I’m up here?”

She sighs in relief, “No! I’m good, thank you mom!”

“Alright, come and get us if you need something! I’m going to lock the front door today!”

“Ok, thank you!”

Turning back to her work, she contemplated moving the heavy boxes she stacked on the door to keep it closed. After the scare with Alya a while ago, she didn’t want anyone barging in while she was writing up her plans. Shrugging it off, she goes back to her plans.

Rena was getting better at her illusions. Since it largely relied on her imagination, she had been reading fantasy novels and watching action cartoons to help give her ideas. Carapace has recently been focusing on his shield applications, watching and reading with Rena to help give him ideas while also learning to focus better, since his power relies on that. Bee, surprisingly enough, had taken up a personal martial arts trainer. She wasn’t very good but her Miraculous power relied on close combat and a very short handed weapon. No one knew about it. Not-Chat was a different case all together. He wasn’t as agile as Chat and he didn’t have a lot of ideas. His distractions only worked because the Akuma’s were usually after his Miraculous and he only didn’t get caught because he was a good runner. Something about swimming lessons helping.

Marinette heaves a heavy sigh as she thinks. Master Fu had only been sort of helpful because he either spoke in riddles or didn’t tell her anything at all. Plus, their last conversation had done nothing but give her anxiety.

She recalls sitting at his small floor table, his face intense as he started speaking with her, “Marinette,” he was pouring her a cup of tea while they sat, “I have something I need to tell you, but I need you to remain calm.”

She had nodded and started drinking.

“Soon, when I finally meet this Carapace. I will be giving over my duties as Miraculous guardian to him.”

She choked a little bit he continued to speak.

“I will also be leaving the decision of what happens to the Miraculous to its rightful owner.”

She finally cleared her throat enough to wheeze out a, “Who?”

“You.”

The cup dropped from her hands, luckily it only landed on the table, spilling its contents over the wood.

“WHAT?!”

Tikki had floated into view, “Marinette, as Ladybug, the box technically belongs to you. So all of the Miraculous inside are yours. The guardian is just supposed to watch and protect the box while you can’t.”

Said girl flailed her arms around, “Wow wow wow, wait! I can’t be in charge of the Miraculous! I’m barely able to keep Tikki safe!”

He nodded, “That is why there is a protector.”

The rest of the conversation eludes her, that information had been very distracting and she wasn’t sure she could handle thinking about it!

Back in the present once more, Tikki floats up from the chair she was sitting in, “Marinette? Are you ok?”

Glancing at the red Kwami she frowns, “Yeah, just distracted.”

“Do you need any help?”

A shake, “No. I just need to focus.”

“Alright.” Tikki sits back in her spot.

Looking to her paper once more, she thinks up a few different plans and how they could go wrong. By the time her alarm goes off to remind her about dinner, she has at least four different plans and lists of their pros/cons.

“Let’s go get something to eat.”

Tikki eagerly flies into her bag, obvious hunger showing in her excitement. It takes a few minutes but eventually, she gets all the boxes moved and is in the kitchen.

Marinette looks around to check for her parents, “Mom, dad?”

When it’s quiet, she opens her bag, “Looks like their still in the bakery. You can come out.”

The Kwami slips out of her bag and flies over to the plate of sugary desserts on the counter, left overs or defects from earlier in the day.

The bluenette is about to open the fridge when a knock on the door catches her attention. Walking over to it, she leaves Tikki to disappear on her own before opening it.

“Hello?”

To say her spirits dropped would be an understatement, but it was greatly overshadowed by the uncomfortable feeling growing in her gut at what she was seeing. Just outside her own front door was Lila Rossi, a bag of sweets in one hand, a phone in the other, while being escorted by her Father.

“Oh hi Marinette! It’s so good to see you! I was so worried you were mad at me when you didn’t even stop to say hi to your bestest friend in the world.”

Marinette doesn’t think. Her mind a blank slate as she slams the door shut in the other girls face, and subsequently her fathers, while locking it. Then on a whim, she grabs the closest and heaviest thing she can carry, the armchair, and barricades the door.

Only when she is finished does she hear the shouting and knocking on the front door.

Suddenly no longer hungry, Marinette runs up to her room and slams the trap door closed, moving all of the boxes on it as well before climbing up to sit on her bed, crawling into the corner and covering her head with her arms.

She can’t hear the banging and shouting from here, the distance was too far and with her windows closed, they couldn’t yell up from outside either. The perfectly isolated little corner she needed.

She feels Tikki slide into a spot near her neck and muzzle her, the Kwami’s form of comfort doing wonders for her frayed nerves. Her mind slowly gathering together once more, and with it the dawning horror.

“I just locked my parents out of their own house.”

Tikki cuddles closer, “Lila was at your door.”

“I barricaded the door.”

A gentle touch to her cheek, “You panicked and were doing your best to protect your home.”

“My parents are going to kill me.”

A small shift, “Your parents would understand if you told them what was happening at school.”

“They haven’t before.”

“You haven’t tried.”

“I’m going to be arrested.”

“You didn’t do anything to warrant an arrest.”

When nothing else leaves her mouth, the Kwami forced her to look up, “Marinette. It’s ok, I’m positive if you just talk to your parents about what just happened, it will be fine. Lila will leave when she figures out she can’t get to you or your parents send her home to try and get in. Just take a minute to calm down, then we can go down stairs and try again.”

Marinette nods, “Ok. Yeah. Good idea.”

A ringing interrupts them and without much thought, Marinette answers is, “Hello?”

A deep but silky voice speaks on the other end, “Ms. Dupain-Cheng?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Who is this?”

“No one you need to worry about.” And then the call ends.

It’s only Tikki’s look of horror that has her looking down at the phone in her hand.

The slick black surface of the flip phone and lack of design confuse her for a moment before she drops it like it burned her. That was her emergency contact phone that only Adrien used. The one they used for their super hero work.

The one she just gave away her identity on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please. I beg you.
> 
> I want to see your reactions to this one.
> 
> They can be as short or as long as you want.


	34. No longer safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, this is something very different from what I had planned but after thinking about it, the other way just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.
> 
> Normally I hate having OC’s or not cannon characters in my fics, especially if they have such a huge role. It just seems out of place to me.
> 
> With that in mind, I’m hoping against all odds and my own way of thinking that this chapter is acceptable.

The panic sets in quickly, her thoughts spiraling as she thinks about what she had just done. The phone sitting innocently where it had landed being her only focus.

Hawkmoth knew who she was. Hawkmoth knew that she was Ladybug and could ruin her life. He could attack her family, he would attack her friends. He would sneak into her house and steal the miraculous while she was asleep. He could target her out of costume and she would have no way to defend herself. Her family could die because of her. He knew who she was just based on a phone call. Does that mean he had known for a while? How did he get her number? Wait, that had been Chat’s phone, right? Did he have the other phone? Does he know Adrien is Chat Noir?

Questions race through her mind at breakneck speed. Her breathing becoming faster as she tries to focus on the problem, should she leave Paris? Where would she go? Would he follow her? She can’t leave her family. Maybe she could become a monk on the top of a mountain in China or become a nun in America. No, that wouldn’t work.

The phone blurs as tears well up in her eyes, hugging her arms close she opens her mouth to try and get air in better. She thinks someone is talking to her, but it doesn’t matter if Hawkmoth comes after her. The man was a billionaire he could have her killed and no one would ever know. Maybe he would wait until their next meeting and then threaten her whole family. Maybe he would just kill them to break her? What would she do if her family died because of her?

Marionettes chest burns, her breathing coming faster as she curls in on herself. What was she going to do?

A gentle touch to her cheek makes her reel back in fear. He was already here! He’s in her room and he’s trying to take Tikki away from her she can’t let him! SHE WON’T LET HIM TAKE HER.

Her head makes contact with the wall, momentarily dazing her, but it does nothing to stop her words, “Tikki! Spots on!”

In a rush of warmth and magic, she’s clad in her hero costume. At least this way he can’t grab the Kwami. She reaches for the latch on her ceiling and shoves as hard as she can, vision blurred as she trips out of it and onto the roof. Her head is heavy, sound coming in muffled as she throws her Yo-yo out and swings off. Not caring where she’s going but intent on getting away. Her thoughts narrowed down to one word.

RUN.

She jumps and swings, tripping over rooftops and diving down alleyways to try and avoid getting caught by the phantoms chasing her. If she could just get somewhere safe then she could think. But nowhere was safe, he wasn’t safe, her house wasn’t safe, her school, friends, heck all of Paris wasn’t safe. She had doomed them all because she answered some stupid phone call.

Her feet trip over the ledge of a bank, dunking her into the river in a shock of cold water and darkness. It takes her a lung full of water and a few strokes of her arms before she realizes she’s sinking. With a desperate grasp at the surface, she climbs out of the water when her hand hits the solid rocks she has just fallen off of.

Coughing hard to expel the water out of her lungs, he sits on the edge, her limbs weak and body aching. It takes a long time, almost too long before she can breath semi-regularly, though still labored from the struggle.

With a huff, she clears the water from her eyes as best she can and takes in her surroundings. It was dark out, not quite night but late enough for there to be no pedestrians. Glancing at the nearby bridge, she shuffles over to it on her weak legs before slumping on the ledge underneath. It wasn’t the perfect hiding place but it was better than nothing.

All at once her emotions are back on her, but this time all she can do is sob. She buries her head in her arms and cries for all it’s worth, the frustration at her friends, the stress of being Ladybug, Adrien, her identity, anything she can think of she cries about.

Eventually, she mutters an incoherent ‘spots off’ in between sobs and barely registers the Kwami snuggling into her neck as she cries.

She doesn’t look up until an almost familiar soft voice whispers, “Whoa, hey, why are you hiding under the bridge?”

Teary eyed and exhausted, the blunette turns her head enough to see a familiar head of a light sun bleached brown hair and dirt eyes.

The teens eyes widen, “Blue eyes? What…” Nicole pauses, taking in as much as she can before approaching slowly, “Is it ok if I sit with you?

Confused by the question but wanting the company, Marinette nods her consent.

The teen crouches down, inching along the ledge before sitting just within arms reach, she’s quiet for a moment before speaking, “You uh… wanna talk about it?”

Rubbing her eyes to try and get rid of the tears but failing when more slip past, she gives up and slumps, “I-I can’t.”

The teen nods, “That’s ok, you don’t have to.’ She bites her lip, “Is… is there anything I can do? I have a blanket if you’re cold.”

Marinette buries her head in her arms with a shrug, the tears nonstop but the hiccuping less so. Warmth wraps around her shoulders a moment later and she’s grateful.

“I… I don’t want to pry, but I just need to know.” Her voice wavers for a second as Nicole breathes, “Did… did you jump in on purpose?”

Marinette shakes her head, “It- it was an accident.” He breathes in sharp, causing a hiccuping sound to echo around them.

A heavy sigh leaves her lips, “Oh, that’s. Better than what I was thinking but.” She pauses, “Let’s just leave it at that.”

The bluenette turns to look at the teenager it’s a confused tilt to her head, “What did you think I was doing?” Her voice is a little clearer now.

The other blushes but it’s difficult to see in the low lighting, “I… I thought you were uh… trying to get away from everything, forever.”

Realization dawns on her, “Oh. No, sorry. I was just running away, not trying to drown or anything. I’m sorry I scared you.”

Nicole waves a hand, “No need to be sorry! I was just super concerned. I’m glad it was just a misunderstanding.”

They lapse into silence as they try and think about what to say.

The teen turns to her, “Can I ask you something? You don’t have to tell me but…”

Marinette nods, she knew what was coming.

“Do you need somewhere to stay the night?”

Marinette did not know what was coming, “Huh?”

The other shrugs, “Well, you said you were running. It’s getting really late and, I mean, I can also walk you home if that’s a safer place to be?”

The reason Mari-Ladybug, had been running in the first place comes back to her. How she had run away from home because of Hawkmoth.

“I… are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”

Brown eyes widen, “Of course not! As long as you’re safe and comfortable with it.”

She considers it, on one hand, she could be putting this very helpful civilian in danger, but on the other… Hawkmoth had no idea about Nicole, she was someone completely detached from both of her lives…

“If you wouldn’t mind. I don’t really feel safe going home tonight.”

Something angry flits through Nicole’s eyes but it washes away a moment later to worry, “Of course. I don’t live too far from here so I usually walk. Are you up for that?”

Marinette stands on wobbly legs but with the help of the wall and the much taller teen, she doesn’t slip, “Yeah, I can walk.”

They walk slowly make their way along the ledge, it’s wide enough for them to walk one at a time, but that doesn’t seem to stop Nicole from holding her hand all the way back. Once their on safer ground a breeze brushes past the bluenette, a shiver racking her frame.

“You going to be ok?”

Marinette’s heart warms at the concern in the others voice, it was nice knowing someone cared, “I should be fine.”

“Alright, let me know if you get any colder ok?”

With a nod, they make their way up the steps and onto the bridge. True to the teens words, they arrive at an apartment not even five minutes away.

Nicole turns to her at the door, “My roommates might be awake, so you should stay behind me until I can calm them down.”

Confused, Marinette nods. She watches with stunned amazement when, not even a moment after the door is unlocked, a whirlwind of color comes crashing out of the door, a high pitched laugh assaulting her ears.

“NICOLETTE! YOU MADE IT HOME! I MADE PANCAKE HAMBURGERS!” Then just as quickly the whirlwind is gone back into the house.

Nicole heaves a heavy sigh, “I’m sorry. She’s uh… super hyper?”

Speechless, Marinette follows the teen into the house. Instantly, her senses are bombarded by an array of colors, everything from black to neon orange splashes around the house. The scent of sweets and something she doesn’t recognize fills her nose but is surprisingly not unpleasant.

A voice comes in from the kitchen, this one deeper than she was ready for but much softer, “Shoes Nicole.”

The teen stops with a huff before sliding her shoes off, “Yeah, yeah.” Then she turns to Marinette, “Sorry to ask but would you mind taking off your…” Panic crosses her face, “Oh my gosh, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t wearing shoes?”

A little surprised she looks down to find that she had indeed forgotten to put on shoes amongst all of the panic of getting out of her house, “I just noticed myself.”

The teen huffs something out in, she thinks it’s Russian? Before leading her to the bathroom, the deeper voice comes back confused, “Did you just use the word Butterfly as a curse word?”

Pulling out a few things, Marinette's arms are soon full of towels and a set of clothes, seemingly pulled from thin air, “Here, warm up in the shower. I’ll make sure you have something to eat, do you have any food allergies?”

Mutely, the bluenette shakes her head. Nicole smiles before pointing to the shower, “We actually have to instructions for everything on the wall but if you have any questions don’t be afraid to call out ok?” And with that she’s alone.

Tikki floats into her line of vision, “That was something I’ve never seen before.”

Surprised, Marinette looks to the Kwami, “Tikki? Where were you hiding?”

The Kwami gives her a sad smile, “When Nicole showed up I hid by your side, then in the blanket.”

“Oh.” She takes a moment to process all that had happened before exhaustion halts the process, “I think, I’m just going to stop thinking for a while.”

Tikki nods, “That’s ok. I’ll make sure you don’t fall asleep in the shower.”

“Thanks.” With that, she gets started on getting warm.


	35. Roommates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my Beta! They gave me some great tips for this chapter and some suggestions for the future!

Marinette wakes up confused as to where she is at first. The room is a lot more spacious, though, the colors are a lot darker than she’s use to, not a spec of pink could be seen. Clarity makes its way into her head when she hears quiet giggling outside of the room. That’s right, she had stayed at Nicole’s house last night after falling into the river.

Struggling out from under the covers, she opens the door slowly, not wanting to wake anyone if they were asleep. To her surprise, all three of the girls from last night are moving about, looking ready to tackle the day.

A yawn escapes the blunettes mouth, the noise attracting the attention of the pale female.

“Coffee?”

Marinette shakes her head, “I don’t drink coffee.”

The blur of colors barrels towards her, narrowly stopping outside the door and avoid crashing into her, “Would you like some breakfast?” The others smile wakes up something in the tired teen, “I made blueberry muffins!”

Nicole slides her way between them, “Sof, she just woke up, give her a minute.”

Sof runs back into the kitchen with a giggle. Much louder now that she knew everyone was awake.

The bleached brunette turnes to her, “Sorry.”

The teen shrugs, “It’s fine. I’m used to waking up in a frenzy because of school.” A thought dawns on her, “Oh my gosh! It’s Friday! I have school!”

Before her panic can take form, the lady dressed in all black speaks up, “Unless you have school at 6 AM, you’re fine.”

Relief floods in quickly, “Oh good.” She looks up as she’s lead to sit at their table, “So, I’m sorry to ask so late but what are your names? My name is Marinette.”

The rainbow nearly jumps over the counter, “I’m Sofie! They call me Sof! Because I’m soft!”

Taking a closer look at the adult, she tries to make sense of all the colors and patterns splashed all over her clothing and body. Stickers in the shape of sweets with faces, stuck all over her cheeks, hair pins that make it hard to see what her hair looks like, let alone the rainbow of colors it seems to be dyed. At least she can tell her hair’s in pigtails.

Marinette smiles at her before examining the one dressed in all black who sits at the counter, her shirt falling off both of her shoulders to reveal a spider web of mesh and a choker. The shirt is long enough to hide her black shorts but her knee high combat boots help to cover most of her legs.

They all look to be University age.

Sofia pokes the pale girl in the cheek, receiving a grumble before she says, “Zola.”

Nicole sets a ton of food and an empty plate in front of Marinette when she sits at their table, “We didn’t know what you would like so Sof cooked a bit of everything.”

The bluenette smiles, “You didn’t have to do that. I would have been fine with a muffin.”

Black polished nails slide the muffin covered plate closer to her, “You can still eat some.”

Marinette takes a muffin, only feeling bold enough to take more once the other girls take a plate of food and join her at the table. She has a sneaking suspicion they were waiting for her.

“So blue eyes, you planning on going to school or calling in sick?” Nicole takes a bite of something vaguely apple looking.

The teen nods, “I have to get to school. I can’t skip or be late again, it’ll get me in trouble.”

An almost dark look passed over all of their faces before it disappears.

“Yeah, about that.” Zola glances at the clock, “You know you don’t have to go right?”

Sofia leans close, “Especially if you’re getting hurt!”

Nicole runs a hand down her face, “Geez, talk about subtle.”

Sitting in confusion, Marinette pauses in her eating, “What do you mean? I haven’t gotten hurt at school before.”

The rainbow moves closer, “At home then.”

The deep worry on her face confuses her, until the boat girl gets her attention, “Sorry. I was concerned about you last night and I didn’t want to lie to my roommates about why I had a teenager here. I told them about the first time we met and what you had said about bullies, then about you not being safe at home.”

A few pieces of a puzzle she didn’t know existed snapped into place, “Oh! No, no! I’m not being hurt or anything! My parents are great and really sweat people but yesterday uh-“ she just barely catches herself before explaining what happened with Hawkmoth. Scrambling for words she starts to stutter, “M-my uh. Classmate! Came to my house! The one who’s been making my life really hard! She’s a liar and pretended to be my friend so I ran away!”

Sofia sits back in her seat, a sad look on her face, “You’re bully followed you home?”

Zola finishes her food before walking into the kitchen and dropping her plate in the sink, the action seeming a little more aggressive than Marinette’s used to.

“Zol, why don’t you go grab blue eyes clothes out of the dryer. I know you hate it when I mess with the thing.”

When she’s finally out of the room, the teen leans forward and whispers, “Did I say something wrong?”

Nicole shakes her head, “No. Don’t worry too much about it. Just know we’ve all been through some stuff. Anyway, go ahead and finish eating and when your clothes get in here you can change. You can either use my room or the bathroom.”

Marinette smiles, “I’ll change in the bathroom.”

The other two continue their meal, seemingly satisfied. Zola returns after a few minutes with Marinette's clothes in hand, placing them on the small coffee table before she retreats into her room.

Checking the time, the bluenette finishes her food quickly. Snatching up her clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.

Tikki floats up as she changes, “Are you sure it’s safe to go to school? I really think you should talk to Master Fu.” She keeps her voice low.

Marinette puts on her shirt, “I’ll talk to Master Fu as soon as I can, but I really need to get to school.” A thought occurs to her, “Or maybe call my parents first.” She winces at the thought, “What am I going to tell them? ‘Hi mom and dad! It’s your daughter! I ran away because you invited someone into our house whose been hurting me emotionally! I spent the night at a strangers house and- I DON’T HAVE MY PHONE!”

Her jacket falls out of her hands as she searches for either of the mobile devices she owns. Finding neither, she slumps to the floor, “Oh no. I left them both in my room. How am I going to call my parents?”

A soft knock draws her attention to the door, “You ok in there blue eyes?”

Marinette picks up her jacket and throws it on, “Yeah. I’m alright.” She opens the door, “I just forgot that I don’t have my phone with me. I don’t know how I’m going to call my family.”

Nicole fishes out a device from her back pocket, “Wanna use mine?”

The bluenette clasps her hands under her chin with a smile, gratitude already filling her chest, “Really? You would be ok with that?”

Nicole nods, unlocking the screen and flicking to the phone section, “Of course, I’m sure your parents are worried about you.”

When the phone is passed to her, she’s quick to enter in her mother’s number, tapping the call button with nervous fingers. She raises it to her ear, apprehension making her stiff.

Her mom answers after the second ring, “Hello?”

Marinette gulps, “Hi, mom. It’s me.”

Her mom speaks quickly, “Marinette! Honey where are you?! You were gone all night, we couldn’t find you! We called Alya, we called Nino, we called our neighbors, we called the police! You just went missing out of your room! Did you climb down the building? Do you know how dangerous that is?!”

The bluenette winces, glancing at Nicole before spitting out, “I’m ok, I’m ok. I’m alive mom. I’m at a friends house.”

“Where?! With who? We called every one of your friends and none of them knew where you were!”

“Uh,” she winces, “You don’t know them. I haven’t really talked about these friends.”

“You tell us about all of your friends.”

Her father's voice cuts over her moms slightly hurt one, “Is it a boys house? Young lady you need to come home right now, everyone is looking for you.”

A flash of fear takes away Marinette's words. If everyone was looking for her, that meant Hawkmoth was too. She rubs her arm nervously, “I-I’m fine. It’s not a boys house. I-Uh…”

Nicole sets a hand on her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts. Her voice is soft as she speaks, “Deep breath.”

It’s only two words, not even that extravagant, but the concern in the others posture reassures her just a little bit. Her parents voices are loud out of the tiny speaker, each more frantic than the last, the longer she takes to respond.

She makes up her mind then, “I’m going to school first. I can’t be late again. I’ll talk to you when I come home this afternoon, promise.” Then she hangs up.

Nicole takes her phone back when it’s offered, “That was pretty brave of you.”

Marinette smiles, “Thanks.”

A soft tap draws her attention to the person behind her. Sofia smiles and holds out a pair of shoes.

“Here, you can use these. I heard Nicole yell about it last night. They might be the wrong size but-“ she trails off, her pigtails bouncing as she fidgets.

The shoes are just as brightly colored as Sofia seems to be, pastel colors splashed together with pictures of sweets with faces laughing.

Taking the shoes, the bluenette takes the shoes that are offered and tries them on, “Thank you, I totally forgot about that.” It takes a little adjusting but they fit nicely after she tightens them, “They fit great! And their so cute.” She stands up, “I’ll make sure to return them as soon as I can.”

Sofia smiles, “No need, their too small for me and I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I’m glad they fit!”

Marinette hesitates, “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive!” Her fidgeting turns into excited hopping.

Nicole moves to the front door and unlocks it, “Mind if I walk you most of the way to school? Make sure you’re safe?”

The teen turns and shrugs her shoulders, “If you want to, I can’t really stop you.”

Nicole laughs, “True, but if you didn’t want me to go I wouldn’t.”

They step out into the brightly lit hallway, turning back to say goodbye before making quick work of the stairs and out into the world.

“So, I can take you back to where I found you, could you lead from there?”

Marinette nods, “I can do that.”

“Great!” They start walking, the taller of the two slowing their pace for the smaller one, “So, figures I should share some things about me since we’re friends now.”

A hard blush covers the bluenette cheeks, “Y-you don’t have to do that! I just didn’t want my parents to be worried! Not that I don’t want to be your friend, I wouldn’t mind, you seem like a really cool person! Not that you’re not cool-!”

A hand lands on her shoulder, “Whoa, slow down there. I was just teasing you. I don’t mind, besides, I think getting to know someone new would be awesome.”

Marinette tried to force the embarrassment off of her face, “I can tell you a bit about myself too, then we can really be friends.”

They keep a comfortable pace as they walk, luckily they weren’t too far away from their destination.

“Well, I like boating. As you know, the water is calming and I enjoy seeing all the people that come by. My roommates and I met a little before we started school, moved in together when they were assigning rooms. I’m also a huge fan Chat Noir.”

The name has the teen pausing, not expecting her partners name to pop up, “Oh, really? I like Chat Noir too, he’s very strong.”

Nicole turns to her, “That’s great. Most people I know prefer Ladybug. Don’t get me wrong, she’s an awesome girl but Chat’s a little more laid back.”

A sad smile sets across Marinette's face, “Yeah, he’s super laid back.”

“What else do you like?” She turns forward again.

“Um… I like designing clothes, I want to go into the fashion industry when I get older. I also enjoy baking! Oh! That reminds me, I don’t want to sound rude or anything, but what was your friend wearing? The brightly colored one. I’ve never seen that style before.”

They reach the bridge, easily switching positions as the smaller girl leads the way.

Nicole laughs, “Yeah, Sofia like this style of dress called Harajuku, it’s popular in Japan.”

“Huh, I’ll have to look into that. Sorry, that was off track, what about you?”

“It’s alright, I’m actually in university. I work the boats a side job and give free tours of the rivers to sad teenagers who want to get away from it all.”

Marinette laughs at that, “Very funny. You don’t actually do that,” she peaks a glance at the other, “Do you?”

The smirk on her face is telling, “I do. But so far, you’re the only teenager whose ever qualified for the position. Most people don’t want to go on a lonely boat ride.”

The teen frowns, “But I wasn’t lonely, you were there.”

A blush covers the tan skin, her hands sliding into her pants pockets, “Most people don’t think that way. I’m glad you do though.”

Someone Marinette recognizes from school passes them, their older than her but she’s seen them a few times in the halls. The only reason this is important is because it reminds her where they were walking too.

“Oh! Crap, that’s my school. Thank you for walking me here!”

Nicole waves at her, “No problem. When you get the chance, text me. Your parents have my phone number now so it won’t be a problem.”

The teen waves back at her, “Yeah! I’ll do that as soon as I can! See you later Nicole!”

Marinette runs towards the steps with a small skip. She hadn’t been this happy since before- she cuts off the thought. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do much today, since her school stuff was at home, but with Tikki hiding in her jacket and some of her extra stuff in her locker, she was sure she could make do.

The bluenette makes it as far as the locker room before her good mood is threatened.

“There you are!”

Marinette barely suppresses a sigh as the familiar angry footsteps of her old friend stomp her way.

She manages to keep a straight face as she takes out her spare supplies, “Here I am.”

Alya stops next to her, hands on her hips, “Your parents called me saying you disappeared last night and then I get a call from Lila saying you slammed a door in her face when she tried to visit you to say she was sorry. What did you even do to make her want to apologize to you?” She pauses before throwing an arm up, “And all you have to say to me now is ‘Here I am’?!”

Marinette cringes at the bad impression of her voice, squeaky and very obviously it of the others voice range when it cracks, “I don’t sound like that.”

The brunette points a finger at her, “First of all, yes you do. Second of all, answer the question!”

Taking a step back, the bluenette closes her locker, “I said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s only one part of the story. If you won’t listen to my half of it, then please excuse me.” She tries to keep her happy mood tied tight to her heart. This morning had been to nice to let go of so easily.

Alya is basically vibrating with rage, “And what about Lila?!”

The feelings from yesterday threaten to come back, the shock, the pure feeling of betrayal, the anger. She shoves them down by hugging her books tighter, “What about Lila.”

If it were possible for a person to be angrier, Marinette wasn’t sure, but she has to be witnessing a volcano going off, “YOU SLAMMED THE DOOR IN HER FACE AND WOULDN’T EVEN HEAR HER OUT!”

Heart hammering in her chest, it takes much too long for the bluenette to respond, it’s Tikki’s comforting hug that brings her back completely, “I-I just want to go to class. Please move.”

Alya doesn’t move an inch, her one hand planted into her hip while the other points at Marinette aggressively, “ARE YOU IGNORING ME?! YOU REALLY ARE JUST A HEARTLESS PERSON AREN’T YOU? YOU DON’T EVEN CARE WHO YOU HURT AS LONG AS IT’S NOT ADRIEN.”

The happy mood is dashed away, easily replaced by the now familiar betrayal and anger. She jumps over the bench to get around Alya, heart lodged into her throat at the thought of her partner, broken, trapped, and in need of a rescue that she still wasn’t sure she could pull off. Especially not alone. Her feet move her automatically, her ears ringing with Alya’s shouts of anger but not understanding her words. They didn’t matter right now.

Her legs carry her to the classroom and up to the back row before dropping her unceremoniously onto the bench. They must be alone in the room, because her little Kwami is hugging her cheek.

“I’m so sorry Marinette.” Her voice is so soft and broken.

Setting her stuff down, she cups a hand around the small form of her friend, “It’s not your fault Tikki, but thank you anyway.” Her one voice is soft, not anywhere near the raging volume that Alya had used.

The Kwami nods her head, “I know, but these past two and a half weeks have been a nightmare for you, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I could do to make it better.”

Marinette's heart warms, “You’re so sweet. You have been doing everything you can to make me feel better. Just having you at my side has helped me more than you can imagine.”

Tikki smiles up at her, giving her one final hug, “I’ll always stay by your side as long as you want me.”

With a whispered ‘thank you’, the Kwami returns to hiding in her jacket. It’s quiet for a few minutes as she sets out her stuff, ready to take notes when class starts. Even after being comforted, however, a sense of dread hangs heavily on her mind.


	36. Followed

The first class goes exactly how Marinette had expected it to go. Chloe and Sabrina joined her in the back, Alya turned an occasional scowl in her direction and Lila acted like the fake little angel she was. The rest of the class ignoring her the typical topper on the fake cake.

In the back of her mind, the bluenette had done her best to keep her new friends in her heart. Even if it was Hawkmoths day off she didn’t want to risk it now that he knew who she was. Thinking about Hawkmoth however, would bring about an anxiety she wasn't too sure how to deal with, so she would flip her spare notebook to a blank page and draw some designs based on how her friends looked and what little she knew about them. She had at least 3 pages filled with sketches.

Her next class goes much like the last, normal, expected. Completely different from how she thought it would. Something bad was going to happen, she just knew it in her gut.

Their teacher excuses themselves out of the room. Leaving them to go over homework for a few minutes while they were gone.

That’s when Lila approaches her, “Hey, Marinette!” Her voice is sickeningly cheerful.

Taking a deep breath, she tries really hard to focus on her homework, “Lila.” She can’t get more out than that.

The girl slides into the empty seat next to her, keeping her shoulders hunched in, “Oh come on now, I just want to talk. You know, to apologize for showing up at your house!”

Blue eyes glance sideways with suspicion, “Well, thanks. Would you please leave me alone now?”

Lila frowns deeply, a faux sad look on her face, “Oh, well that’s fine. I guess you're too busy for me then. That’s ok.”

Someone makes a sound of disapproval, and when she looks, everyone in class is staring at them, giving Marinette disappointed glances. It turns her stomach sour.

“I’ll just leave you to your drawing then.” The teen stands up and leaves, sitting back at the front of the class with a huff.

The bluenette spends the rest of the class trying to ignore the stares directed her way and sadly her next class has a few of the same students. Word spreads quickly it seems.

Lilia sits next to her before the teacher enters, “Come on, I just want to talk. To fix what happened.”

Marinette pointedly doesn’t look at her, “I don’t want to talk, Lila. Please leave me alone.” She tries to keep her voice down so fewer people could hear her.

Their teacher walks in and starts by putting them in groups. Grouped by table.

Lila beams at her, “Isn’t this great! We get to work together!”

The bluenette groans, “Yeah. Great.”

When class ends she’s more than a little irritated, barely clinging to the few happy thoughts she could muster up with a bitter hand. Trudging to the bathroom during lunch is more of a habit than she wants to admit, it was probably the only place she could expect some sort of privacy if Lila didn’t find her.

Sadly, the girl is basically on her heels, “Marinette!” She sings songs.

Said teen stops in her tracks, the bathroom was empty again, “What?”

She’s blocking the only exit, “Don’t be so harsh Mari~ we’re friends remember?” Her tone of voice is almost teasing.

That feeling of dread hits her again, “We are not friends. You made that very clear.”

The girls soft face twists into an evil anger, “Oh, I never said that. You just refused to listen to me.”

“Why should I listen to you when all you do is lie?”

“It’s not lying if people are hearing what they want to hear. Now,” she smiles wide, her teeth on display, “Since I’m feeling generous today, I thought to myself, why not stretch out that hand again? We can be friends. You stop trying to undermine me and I can get you all of your friends back in a snap!” She snaps her fingers before holding out her hand, “No strings attached!”

Marinette levels her with a hard glare, holding her book close, “No thank you.”

The others smile completely disappears as her hand drops, “You're in total isolation, your friends hate you because you’ve been a bad and mean person. Why won’t you accept my offer?”

The thought of a warm blanket, even warmer muffins and the safety from that morning keeps her grounded, “You know why.”

Anger colors he others faces before smoothing out into a cold blanket of a smile, “Fine.” She walks forward till their an inch apart, “Then I just want to let you in on a little secret.”

Marinette tries to back up, but the teen keeps following her.

“I will not hesitate to break everything you care for. Your home life is going to become a nightmare and I’ll make sure school is just as bad, so bad in fact you won’t even show your face out in public.” Marinette's back hits the wall, “I will break you if it’s the last thing I do.”

Then she backs up with a soft smile and a skip in her step, “See you later Mari~! Let’s talk again, ya?” The bell rings signaling that lunch was over.

The doors close quietly behind the monster of a girl, leaving behind a fear inside of Marinette that she couldn’t hide from.

Slipping to the floor, she grips her legs as she starts to shake, Tikki’s soft voice the only thing keeping her from breaking down completely.

“Don’t listen to her Marinette, please.”

She takes hold of the Kwami and hugs her close, “I know. I know, she can’t hurt me. She’s not even my biggest problem right now.” She takes a few calming breaths, “I’ll be ok. I just need a second.”

Tikki nods, cuddling into her chest for all it’s worth. Distantly the bell rings, “You’re going to be late to class.”

“I know.” She stands with a sigh, reaching for the sink and splashing water on her face, “Ok, I’m ready.”

The teacher gives her a light reprimand for being late but otherwise says nothing. When the bluenette turns to her chair however, the class is staring her down, each person's face more visions than the last.

She makes it to her seat, just barely holding onto what composure she had left and decides that, instead of taking notes, she would write down everything she remembered from her new friends. 

This task isn’t hard, Nicolette was a boater, apparently spoke Russian, lived with Sofia and Zola, her nickname is Nicole.

Putting graphite to paper, she curls up in her seat, focusing on the lines she drew and making her writing legible through the shaking.

Sofia is super bubbly, liked a Japanese style of clothing, thought she couldn’t remember the name, and went by Sof. Because she’s ‘soft’. She also liked to cook.

Marinette tries to remember each and every single sticker, barrette, and color the girl had on her. The image that comes to mind seems more exaggerated then she thinks it’s supposed to be.

Zola was super quiet, she probably liked black since she was covered in it, and she didn’t eat a lot of sweets during breakfast. She’s also really calm and also speaks Russian? She at least knew the word for butterfly.

She starts to sketch what they looked like that morning. Replacing their heads with a traditional manikin look and putting more detail into their outfits.

All three of them were college students and didn't wear shoes in the house. She writes ‘blue-eyes’ in the corner next to her drawing of Nicole. A few drawings of cupcakes and candy are drawn next to Sof but she isn’t sure what to draw next to Zola. Marinette smiles as she draws a cup of coffee next to her picture.

A paper lands on her work and it takes her a minute to recognize it as their homework for the day. A blush colors her cheeks and she switches to that instead, having momentarily forgotten where she was. Almost as soon as she does so however, her notebook is taken from underneath her arm. She resists the urge to lunge for it, but wishes she had almost immediately. 

“What are these?”

Marinette cringes at the sound of Alya’s voice, so accusatory and filled with disbelief, “Just… some outfits I came up with after seeing something on the internet.” Her voice is smaller than she had wanted it to be.

The brown girl hisses out her next words, “You weren’t even paying attention to the teacher? Smiling at this stuff after what you did to Lila?”

That fear comes back, “What I did?” She hadn’t realized she was smiling.

Alya growls, wrinkling the pages in her grasp, “You cornered her in the bathroom again!”

Her jaw drops open, “Again with this? I didn’t do anything.” She tries to keep her voice low, “She’s’ The one who-“

The other cuts her off, “You do this every time! I can’t believe you!”

Alya slams her book on the table, the loud smack grabbing quite a bit of attention, “You're over here acting so innocent when Lila came into class with tears in her eyes and she won’t even talk about what happened!” Her voice is no longer quiet.

Their teacher rises from his seat, “Madam, I need you to sit down and stop this immediately.”

Marinette snatches her book off the table and cradles it to her chest, “You won’t even listen to me!”

Rage consumes the darker girl, her arms waving around to emphasize her point, “Why should I when all you do is lie?!”

The echo of her own words back at her cracks something very delicate inside her heart. She decided it must be the last straw because she says nothing while grabbing all of her things.

This however seems to fuel Alya’s anger, “What do you think you’re doing?!”

Their teacher stands from his seat, “Miss Césaire, go to the principal's office.”

Marinette stands and bows slightly to her teacher, her voice hardly a whisper, “Excuse me.”

She rushes out of the room, murmurs from class following her out. Her teacher yelling about her needing to come back.

She doesn’t.

Instead she books it out of the front doors of the school, running as fast as possible towards home, stopping just short of the stop light when she sees Nathalie walking inside.

The reminder of Hawkmoth has her back peddling and running in the other direction. She avoids hitting a any passerby’s, stumbling her way past the few people who were out and about, darting across the street when the light was green. For the cars.

A loud honking makes her look up from her blind run to see a truck barreling towards her. A scream tears out of her throat, her body curling in on itself as she braces for impact, expecting to get hit but someone grabs her arm and wrenches he’s her to the side.

The truck passes them and her savior without a problem, the truck driver shouting out his window about stupid teenagers.

Marinette's breathing is hard as she shakes in the persons hold. Cold fear wrapping around her heart.

A familiar voice fills her ringing ears, the voice soft and speech slow, “Geez, I thought she was kidding.”

Looking up sharply, the bluenette’s eyes widen, focusing on anything but what had just happened, “Zola?”

Her head tilts down, her sunglasses glinting in the sun, “Hey kiddo.” Her eyes flick behind her glasses, Licking onto something behind her, “Let’s go. You’re not safe here.”

Marinette's heart hasn’t stopped pounding yet, “Go-go where?”

The others arm wraps around her, a comfortable weight on her shoulders, “Anywhere but here. Got any ideas? Can’t take you to my place since it’s too close. I’m assuming yours isn’t safe either.”

Tikki presses into her side and a thought strikes her, “Follow me.”

Marinette guides them across a different street, Zola pulling her in the wrong direction as soon as she tries to go the correct way. More than a little confused, the bluenette lets her. Waiting until the taller female asks her where to go to correct their path. This pattern continues, the pair taking twists and turns, Zola leading her in the wrong direction a few more times before she seems to relax. They arrive at Master Fu’s about 20 minutes later than it should have taken.

“Um, Zola?”

“Hmm?”

She fiddles with her book, “Why did you take us the wrong way so many times?”

Her shoulders sense as she lets go, “We were being followed.” At her shocked look she continues, “I saw you turn around suddenly before running across the street. That woman from the bakery was staring at us the whole time.”

Marinette gasps, “Nathalie was following us?”

She shakes her head, “The car she was in. The black one. We lost it a while ago.”

A shiver runs down her spine, “I… I need to talk to Master Fu. I should have gone to him right away.” She turns on her heal to run into the building.

A cold hand grips hers, “Are you sure?”

Turning she sees Zola has taken off her glasses, her eyes are filled with concern, “Are you sure you’re safe here?”

She doesn’t hesitate to nod, “This is the safest place I could be, aside from your house, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Zola’s frown deepens, “That makes me more concerned but I’m not worried about me. Nicole told us to watch you because you were acting funny and now you’re telling me you don’t want us to get hurt. Merinette, if you have people chasing after you, you need to call the cops. This is more than bullying and this is not just a school problem.”

The others concern is so clear on her face it’s heartbreaking, they didn’t even know each other that well. Making a split decision she tugs the taller girl with her, “If you’re worried, then come with me.” Tikki presses urgently against her side, “See for yourself that I’m safe.”

Zola hesitates but follows none the less. Her steps slow as they enter the building.

“Let me warn him you’re here.” She runs up the stairs.

Tikki flies out as soon as the reach the top, “What are you doing?!” Her voice is a whisper, “No one can meet Master Fu like this! Never like this! This is dangerous!”

She pats the Kwami’s head and passes her “I know, but I’m scared Tikki. All of my old friends are gone, I need help. I am running out of people I can trust and there’s only so much I am willing to risk right now. Please.”

The Kwami hesitates, her sad expression turning to understanding, “Ok.”

Marinette opens the door to Master Fu’s home when he invites her in. The man is kneeling at his small table, the box of miraculous in front of him, “Hello Marinette. What brings you here?”

She walks forward, “Master Fu, everything is a disaster. We have so much I need to talk to you about but I want you to meet my friend first and assure her that she doesn’t need to call the cops.”

Surprise and shock cross the old man’s features, “Just how bad of a disaster are we talking about here?”

Marinette waves her hands around as she talks, “Hawkmoth knows who I am, none of my friends trust me anymore, people were chasing me down town and Zola is the only reason I made it here without being followed and she wants me to call the cops.”

Master Fu raises a hand to stop her, “Wait,” Worry etches into his face, “Hawkmoth knows your identity?”

Anxiety crawls up her spine, “Yes and he sent his evil henchmen after me and now Zola wants to call the cops!”

He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose, confusion lacing his voice “Hold on, who is Zola?”

Marinette points to the floor, “She’s down stairs and I wanted you to meet with her to tell her I’m safe.”

The old man sighs heavily, his shoulders sagging, “Do you trust this girl?”

She nods, “She just saved my life.”

There’s a moment of silence as he thinks, “Bring her up. I will hide the box and speak with her.”

Marinette runs out of the room and down the stairs to see Zola texting on her phone, “Uh, who are you texting?”

She looks up, “I’m letting Nicole know I had to save you from getting run over. She mentioned you falling into the river the night you were brought home, I didn’t know you were such a disaster child.”

The bluenette sighs, “I’m usually not this bad.”

Zola smirks, “I don’t believe you.”

A blush colors Marinette's cheeks, “He’s ready to meet you. Will you follow me?”

She nods, slipping her phone away and walking up the stairs, waiting at the door.

“Ma-uh, Grandpa! This is Zola!” She steps into the room, hands in her pockets, “Zola this is my grandpa!”

Zola gives a respectful nod, “Nice to meet you.”

Master Fu gestures to the spot across from him, “Please, take a seat. I hear my granddaughter wanted me to make sure you weren’t worried about her.”

Zola sits down on the cushion cross legged, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to be worried no matter what you tell me. This just changes whether or not I leave her alone with you.”

Marinette takes a seat between them, keeping her mouth shut.

Master Fu smiles, “You care a lot for her doesn’t you?”

Zola nods, her black hair covering her face for a second, “Surprisingly, she grew on us overnight.”

The man frowns, “Overnight?”

Marinette blushes when she realizes what the young woman is talking about.

“Yeah, my roommate brought her home late last night, dripping wet and huddled in a blanket with no shoes on.”

Master Fu turns a curious look to the bluenette, “Is this true?”

She huffs, “Yes. I fell into the river last night.”

Zola ruffles her hair, “Then I see her almost get hit by a truck today and I can’t help but think she’s a magnet for trouble.”

The old man nods, “I see she’s had an exciting last few days. Well, I want to assure you that this is the safest place for her is Paris right now.”

She sticks her hands in her pockets again, “She said the same thing.”

Marinette bounces in place, “That's because it’s true!”

Zola gives her a seat him look before sighing, “Fine. I believe you.” She pulls out a piece of paper, “I’m going to give you all of our phone numbers just in case.”

The paper turns out to be a business card with all of their phone numbers on it.

“Text us if anything, and I mean anything comes up.” Her black painted nails point at her face, “Got it?”

Marinette nods quickly, “Oh yeah! Of course!”

Zola stands, “Don’t worry about walking me out. I’ll make sure those guys don’t find you. Maybe even let them find me across the river or something.” She walks to the door before pausing, “Be safe kiddo.” Then she leaves.

The soft ding of the door downstairs the last they hear of her.

Master Fu turns his attention to her, “I will need a lot more of an explanation now that she is gone.”

Marinette gives him a tired smile, “I have a lot to tell you.”


	37. Safety issues

Marinette holds her breath. She had done her best to explain everything she could to Master Fu. How Lila came to her house, that dreaded phone call, how she ran away and when Nicole found her. Then she had explained why she was there in the first place.

The man strokes his beard as he sits in silence, his face the picture of thinking. Finally he looks at her, “You said that Hawkmoths men were following you?”

She nods quickly, “Yes.”

He takes this in with a frown, “And that girl was helping you.”

She nods faster this time, impatiens making her nervous, “Yes.”

He folds his arms, “And you haven’t told your new friends about the miraculous?”

Marinette clenches her hands into fists in her lap, “No, of course not. What happened with Hawkmoth was an accident.”

He sighs heavily, his gaze finally shifting away, “In this kind of situation, I would normally have the miraculous returned to me.”

Fear pierces her heart, a cold horror freezing her limbs in place, “B-but you can’t! I-“ her tongue is heavy in her mouth, “Masfed Fu, I still have to save Adrien! I can’t just leave him all alone. I made a promise!”

The master holds up a hand to stop her, it irks her so much to see him only mildly concerned when she was losing herself like this, “I understand you have some concerns. However, the miraculous are far too dangerous to be found by someone like Hawkmoth. I cannot allow them to fall into his hands.”

Her vision is going blurry with the treat of tears, she couldn’t lose Tikki. Not after everything that’s happened. If she lost her, everything would have been for nothing. The patrols, the fighting, all of her sore muscles, losing Adrien, all of that time would be gone in an instant. She couldn’t let that happen, it would break her.

Tikki rushes forwards, “Master Fu. Marinette has been doing everything in her power to keep the miraculous safe. Even when her life was in danger she didn’t give up the earrings. Please don’t take me away from her.”

Master Fu shakes his head at her, “I wasn’t finished.” When they both remained silent he continues, “I said ‘normally’ but this has become more complicated than ‘normal’.”

The cold melts away from her body, leaving her slumped in her seat, the worry however doesn’t leave, “So what happens then?”

She watches him pull something out of his pocket and hold it out, “I will be handing this back to you.”

A small ball of light green flies up from his hand to float in the air, a bright pop revealing a small black creature, “Jeez what's with all the noise.”

Tikki tackles the black cat a few feet away from them, squeezing the life out of him, “PLAGG! You’re ok!”

The Kwami flails his arms, “Huck! Yeah I was fine. Now I’m not so sure!”

Tikki lets him go, “What happened? We could barely get you to come out before and even then you weren’t doing so well.”

Plagg makes a show of clearing his throat, opening his arms wide, “Funny you should ask that!” He pauses and it almost reminded Marinette if Chat when he starts to over exaggerate a story, it weren't for the subtle quivering in his shoulders, “I… was really brave ok?!” He straightens his back, “Chat Noir told me to leave, to run and find Master Fu, and I did! I didn’t abandon him!”

Tikki waves her arms in a ‘calm down’ motion, “Whoa, no one was accusing you of abandoning anyone.”

The cat doesn’t seem to hear her, “They got in a fight! I had never seen Chat he so brave before and he never stands up for himself! Then he told me to run away and I did, I was just following orders!”

Marinette reaches out her hands and cups them underneath the Kwami, his whole body shaking as he tries to hold back tears. He practically topples over in her palm.

“I was just following orders.”

They sit in silence as the Kwami’s hold each other, one to comfort and the other hiding. Marinette could take a guess at how much the tinny god was hurting, but she needed the whole story if she was going to save the blonde.

“Plagg?” He peaks up at her, “I know that Chat Noir is Adrien.”

Master Fu gives her a mildly surprised glance but says nothing.

Plagg however looks distraught, “What? But you weren’t supposed to know.”

Tikki hugs him closer, “Well when the owner of a miraculous goes missing, Ladybug is the first one to know. That and they have class together.”

The cat nods, “Yeah, that makes sense.” A pout forms on his face, “And he tried so hard to keep it a secret for you.”

Marinette smiles sadly, “I know.”

Taking a breath, Plagg pulls away from his red counterpart, “Well, if you know it’s Adrien then I guess I can tell you the whole story. The night he went missing, he was actually on one of his nightly runs, see that kid didn’t like to be at home all the time and needed to blow off some steam! He had decided to change back before going into his house, which turned out to be a good thing.” He takes a breath, “Then he went into his house through the front door and his father turned on the lights while standing at the top of the stairs being all creepy. Then he asked Adrien why he was out so late and Adrien couldn’t think of a good lie so he said ‘nightly run’ like it was a question and not the truth.” He floats up at this point, “And then his dad got all angry and said he wasn't allowed to go to school anymore, or leave and every second of his life would be planned out for him, and I guess the miraculous was still influencing him because he got this super angry face and yelled at his father for being unfair. That he might still be a kid but he didn’t like modeling for his dads dumb clothes, that he planned on being as difficult as possible if his father wouldn’t let him have at least a little free time.” He starts moving his arms around, getting more animated, “Then his father yelled back saying ‘how could you do this when your mother is dead so I’m the only one who can care for you’” anger crosses his face, “Then Adrien looked all guilty like he regretted speaking his mind and I wanted to hit that guy, then he said that Adrien wasn’t to blame, like he didn’t just mention the kids dead mom, and then he asked Adrien to follow him and they went to this weird basement place and his mom’s body was down there. And then he told Adrien that he was Hawkmoth and that he had a plan to save his wife by taking the miraculous and Adrien got super scared and as soon as his father wasn’t looking he told me to run and not to turn back. Then he handed me the ring and the phone and I tried to run away with it but-“

Marinette stops him, “The phone! What happened to the phone?!”

Plagg backs up a little, “I was getting there. See, I can’t phase the phone through things, only my ring and I was running out of energy fast because I had to take the long way to get out. I’m not sure what happened but I was flying with the phone and it was super heavy and then suddenly I wasn’t and I couldn’t find it and I was so tired because I hadn’t eaten after Adrien’s run so I came back to Master Fu and then I fell asleep.”

Marinette throws her arms up, “Where did you drop the phone? Does Hawkmoth know Adrien is Chat? Does he think it’s someone else?”

Plagg shrugs, “Somewhere on the streets and I don’t think so?”

Something occurs to the bluenette, “Oh no.” She grabs her pigtails as that all too familiar fear comes back, “Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no! This is all my fault!”

Tikki flies into her face, “What’s wrong Marinette?”

She grabs the Kwami gently, “Hawkmoth knows who Chat Noir is and it’s all my fault!”

Master Fu’s eyes widen, “He knows? How?”

“I talked about him all the time in the messages I left!”

Tikki’s eyes scrunch, “I don’t remember that.”

Marinette could feel the tears building up again, “I called him when you were asleep a few times. I left so many messages I lost count.”

The Kwami shakes her head, “Even if you did, you promised to not say who he really was. You called him Chat every time you were on the phone. If Hawkmoth knows who Chat Noir is, it’s not because of you.”

A tear escapes her eye, but she’s quick to wipe it away, “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive!”

Plagg lands softly in her open palm next to Tikki. His small warmth making it easier to get rid of the tears.

“I’m so sorry you got dragged into this Plagg, I know you don’t like Luka very much but I couldn’t think of anyone else at the time.”

The cat shrugs, “It was an emergency and it technically still is.” He folds his arms, “I might not like the music kid but until we find Adrien I won’t ever be happy.”

Marinette runs a finger over his head, petting him, “I miss Adrien too.”

The cat shoos her hand away, “I didn’t say I miss him! It’s just hard without having my favorite cheese given to me everytime I ask.”

Tikki pokes him in the cheek, the small smirk on her face and fond look in her eyes portraying the amusement she had for her destructive counterpart, “Maybe some of the other miraculous can give us ideas on what to do. Let’s go talk to them.”

Marinette tilts her head in confusion, letting her hands fall to her lap so the Kwami can float, “The others? Can you talk to them?”

Wayzz appears from seemingly nowhere into her vision, he must have come out at some point while they were talking, “We can visit them in the box. I’ll go with you.”

Master Fu nods to the now trio, “Go and talk with them, I need to discuss something with Marinette alone.”

The Kwami bow to him, flying towards the old record player and disappearing inside of it a moment later. Once they are alone the master focuses on the teen.

“I did not finish speaking to you about what was going to happen.”

The bluenette feels a small lump form in her throat, shaking her head up and down to signify she was listening.

“Like I said. You may keep Tikki for now, and I will be giving you the black cats ring, but I cannot let them rest of the miraculous out of my sight.”

Marinette's heart seizes.

“There have been too many close calls during your battles with Hawkmoth, your teammates have succumb to their emotions and been akumatized while wearing their superhero persona more than once, I do not want to risk anymore than has already been done.”

Blood pumps loudly through her ears, she couldn’t do this alone, “But Master Fu, you said I could decide what to do with the miraculous.”

He frowns and closes his eyes, “I did, but that was before. Now that I have heard so much I am making a different decision.” He holds up a hand to stop her from talking and something inside of her snaps at the action, “You will still be the rightful owner of the miraculous, when you are older. I realize now that you are still a child and I gave placed too many responsibilities on you.” He folds his hands on the table and looks her in the eye, “I will be taking the rest of the miraculous with me into hiding. If I deem you or Chat Noir unworthy of the miraculous in the future I will retrieve them myself at that time, and I will decide when you can have them back.”

Anger bubbles in Marinette's gut as the Kwami return to them. She decides not to say anything, though by the look on Tikki’s face she’s not very good at hiding her frustration.

“Marinette, what’s wrong?”

The teen shakes her head, “Nothing.”

Master Fu heaves a tired sigh and places Plaggs ring on the table, “You should be getting home now. I believe school is about to end.”

Being reminded of her home life turns the bubbling into broiling, but she shoves it down as far as she can, snatches the ring and leaves the room, miraculously holding back from slamming the door shut or stoning all the way down the stairs and out of the house but she’s close.

When the sunlight finally hits her in the face she throws her arms up and waves them around in anger, trying to keep her mouth shut so she won’t start screaming but some angry grunts still leave her.

A gentle patting on her shoulder reminds her of her company, “Marinette, please stay calm. If you get too angry-“

A fuse pops, “I am far from angry Tikki! I’m furious! I can’t handle the amount of emotions I’m under right now and I don’t want to deal with them! Let Hawkmoth send a stupid butterfly at me! See what happens! I’d like to see him try and akumatize me because right now the only thing holding me back from punching him in his stupid face is the fact I don’t know where he is!”

With one last angered shout she throws her hands down to her waist and marches off in the direction of her school. She had plans to get done, things to do and nothing was going to stop her, not even Master Fu. She was tired of everything getting in her way of saving her kitty. She was tired of everyone else controlling her life. She was tired of running!

With a huff she shoves the ring onto her finger to keep it safe. Better than the flickering thought of throwing it in anger. If she had help this would all be easier, but now apparently she wasn’t allowed to have help. She had to do this all alone, forever if she couldn’t save Adrien. If she could just convince master Fu to give her the miraculous.

She stops in her tracks, hidden in the shadow of a building on her way home, a thought coming to mind that could fix her all problems or at least the most pressing thing ones.

She could just take the miraculous.

It would have to be when no one would notice so probably that night. She had no idea when master Fu would up and disappear but she didn’t have time to find out. With a determined frown she checks for other people around and transforms. Using her yo-yo to propel her towards her home. The words she had muttered ages ago echoing in her mind, ‘I won’t let this keep going, I will get you back.’

“No matter what the cost.” slips from her lips as she jumps to the next rooftop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been super worn out and stressed. Sorry I’m advance and for right now, that it’s taking so long for chapters to be written.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Leave a Message](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22106704) by [contextclues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/contextclues/pseuds/contextclues)




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